First published 2007
Charles Schulz created the most widely syndicated comic strip in history, yet remained one of America's most misunderstood cultural figures. David Michaelis delivers the first complete biography of the cartoonist, tracing his journey from modest beginnings as a barber's son in Minnesota to his role in shaping the national imagination. The author explores how Schulz's early traumas shaped his worldview. His mother died of cancer in 1943, and just three days later, Schulz shipped out for army boot camp and the European theater. This sense of shock and separation never left him. Michaelis shows how Schulz channeled these experiences into Peanuts, embedding adult ideas within a world of small children. The strip reminded readers that character flaws and childhood wounds stay with us throughout life. Schulz believed we can free ourselves by finding humor in the predicaments of funny-looking kids. His work influenced America throughout the second half of the twentieth century, anchored in the collective experience of his generation who survived the Great Depression, liberated Europe and the Pacific, then returned home to build the postwar world.
Genres: biography, history, 20th-century, american, biography-memoir, 21st-century, comics, graphic-novels-comics
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family
Period: Great Depression, World War II
672 pages · Hardcover · Harper