Stalking the Perfect Tan

Doonesbury Annuals #14

by G.B. Trudeau

Lacey Davenport arrives in Washington with her ornithologist husband and promptly takes over the Korean lobby investigation with the unlikely staff support of law graduate Joanie Caucus in this new collection of Doonesbury adventures

Genres: Comics, Humor, Politics, Comic Strips, Fiction, Graphic Novels, Cartoon

128 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 1978

About the author

Garretson Beekman "Garry" Trudeau is an American cartoonist, best known for the Doonesbury comic strip. In 1970, Trudeau's creation of Doonesbury was syndicated by the newly formed Universal Press Syndicate. Today Doonesbury is syndicated to almost 1,400 newspapers worldwide and is accessible online in association with Slate Magazine at doonesbury.com. In 1975, he became the first comic strip artist to win a Pulitzer, traditionally awarded to editorial-page cartoonists. He was also a Pulitzer finalist in 1990. He was nominated for an Oscar in 1977 in the category of Animated Short Film, for A Doonesbury Special, in collaboration with John Hubley and Faith Hubley. A Doonesbury Special eventually won the Cannes Film Festival Jury Special Prize in 1978. Other awards include the National Cartoonists Society (NCS) Newspaper Comic Strip Award in 1994, and the Reuben Award in 1995. He was made a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1993. Wiley Miller, fellow comic-strip artist responsible for Non Sequitur, called Trudeau "far and away the most influential editorial cartoonist in the last 25 years." In addition to his work on Doonesbury, Trudeau has teamed with Elizabeth Swados and written plays, such as Rap Master Ronnie and Doonesbury: A Musical Comedy. In 1988, Trudeau joined forces with director Robert Altman for the HBO miniseries Tanner '88 and the Sundance Channel miniseries sequel Tanner on Tanner in 2004. In 1996, Newsweek and The Washington Post speculated that Trudeau wrote the novel Primary Colors, which was later revealed to have been written by Joe Klein. Trudeau wrote the political sitcom Alpha House, starring John Goodman and Bill Murray. The pilot was produced by Amazon Studios and aired in early 2013. Due to positive response Amazon has picked up Alpha House to develop into a full series.

Reviews

[Rex Hurst · Rating 5 out of 5]

This collection from the 1970s, almost moves away from the main characters, focusing on the political landscape and satirizing aspects of American culture. Coming under fire are: the vapidity of the celebrity press, the brutality of communist China, the over-reliance on symbolism rather than achievement in the Carter administration, human rights abuses and America's sometimes dubious partners, among other things. Trudeau has a way of gathering laughs over the most horrific things.

[Jon Nakapalau · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is focused with our relationship with China; lots of issues that are very relevant today. I really like this series; takes a look at politics from the perspective of the people who are just trying to navigate day to day existence. Found over a dozen of these books at the last library book sale - fill up a bag on Sunday for $5.00 - a great buy that helps our libraries!

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

Coming out in 1978 with strips from the first half of 77 – by this point Trudeau has quite a few plot lines running simultaneously he can switch between, and the humor continues to be fresh so it’s all good.

[Michael P. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Idea for a class I would like to teach: recent history through comic strips and editorial cartoons. This book could well be part of the curriculum.

[David]

The 5th voyage through the whole realm. Never fails!

[Glen Hicks · Rating 3 out of 5]

I got this book for a dollar and it’s my first time reading Doonesbury, maybe it would make more sense if I was around when all this was happening but I liked some of the characters

[Craig Werner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Joanie graduates from law school and joins Lacy Davenport on the House Ethics Committee; Zonker pursues competitive tanning; Jimmy Carter appoints a Secretary of Symbolism; Rick spends a half year in purgatory writing for People magazine; Clyde investigates his ancestry, inspired by Roots; Jimmy and Jen Thudpucker have a baby; Duke gets canned as Ambassador to China. One of those phases when Trudeau was in synch with America as it moved from the fervor of the 60s/Watergate era into a relatively calm if somewhat befuddled few years.

[Valerie]

I think this is the first collection to focus on Zonker Harris. I can't be sure. I once tried to check out a copy of this from the library--but it'd gone off into the aether somewhere--or more likely into somebody's closet. It never did come back. So my recollections are of reading it while shifting foot-to-foot in front of the rack it was on, before it disappeared.

[Kaethe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lots of Zonker on the professional tanning circuit, with occasional guest appearances by deeply-tanned celebs.

[Kyrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Doonesbury and I find Trudeau's liberal humor to be really funny.