Nighthogs: A Pearls Before Swine Collection

Pearls Before Swine #3

by Stephan Pastis

Pearls Before Swine was voted the Best Comic Strip of 2003 by the National Cartoonists Society, and in Nighthogs , the strip's third collection, Stephan Pastis proves that his strip is one of the sharpest, funniest comics in newspapers.You never know who you'll bump into at a diner at night.
It could be a rat with an anger-management problem. Or an overly sentimental pig. Or a zebra with a story or two to tell about a crocodile. Or even a goat who just wants to be left alone.
Welcome to Nighthogs , where the door is always open, the light is always on, and the coffee is as scorching as the humor.
In this third collection of the immensely popular Pearls Before Swine , Stephan Pastis again takes us into the world of Rat, Pig, Zebra, and Goat, and he shows once more just how outrageous-and how hilarious-the unpredictable can be. Always surprising (and only occasionally depraved), Pearls Before Swine is one of the sharpest comic strips in newspapers today.
So pull up a stool, have a cup of joe, and enjoy.

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

128 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2005

About the author

Stephan Pastis was born in 1968 and raised in San Marino, California, a suburb of Los Angeles. He graduated from the University of California at Berkeley in 1989 with a degree in political science. Although he had always wanted to be a syndicated cartoonist, Pastis realized that the odds of syndication were slim, so he entered UCLA Law School in 1990 and became an attorney instead. He practiced law in the San Francisco Bay area from 1993 to 2002. While an attorney, he began submitting various comic strip concepts to all of the syndicates, and, like virtually all beginning cartoonists, got his fair share of rejection slips. Then, in 1997, he began drawing Pearls Before Swine, which he submitted to the syndicates in mid-1999. In December, 1999, he signed a contract with United.
Pearls Before Swine debuted in newspapers in January, 2002, and Pastis left his law practice in August of that year. Pearls Before Swine was nominated in 2003, 2004 and 2007 as "Best Newspaper Comic Strip" by the National Cartoonists Society (NCS) and won the award in 2004 and 2007. Pastis lives with his family in Northern California.

Reviews

[Adia]

"Because I'm on fire," he said, referencing the growing conflagration upon his bean.

"Why do they call it the 'funnies'?"
"Because 'Irrelevant banality' is too hard to say."

[Riddhish Bhalodia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pearls is an outlet for Mr Pastis to basically dump his the first stupid thought that comes to his mind. What's boggling about it is this is able to get a laugh out of me with terrifying frequency.

[Ben · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Pearls Before Swine. Its one of the better (still currently produced) comics in the funny pages. One of the few that actually push the boundaries and not just in word usage, but actual context, style, and subjects and situations. I appreciate the very dark, bleak, gallows humor that goes unused by 99.9% of the other strips.

[Ellie · Rating 1 out of 5]

There were some funny parts, but also some parts I can't say I enjoyed.

[Harold Citron · Rating 4 out of 5]

Classic Pastis, filled with the usual cast of characters (Rat, Pig, Goat, Zeebra) offering a selection of the strips and Stephan's unique view on life.

Enjoyable read.

[Doelnig · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another fun collection of what is one of my favorites.

[Ben Nealis · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this a while ago. A very good volume early in his carrier.

[Becky B · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of Pearls Before Swine daily comic strips that originally appeared from July 14, 2003 to April 18, 2004.

Ok, so far this is my least favorite collection of Pearls Before Swine. This evidently predates the appearance of the crocs as regular characters (zebras are more concerned with lions). Goat still has a beard. The characters write letters to Pastis but he never appears in person yet. And perhaps my least favorite thing, Rat has a lot of strips with jokes about how he's going to view adult content at work. (It seems Pastis got less adult and more general population-oriented as time went on.) Now there were some absolute gems in here. There's a sequence of comics where Pig is looking for his therapist and it shows him going to all of Lucy from Peanuts haunts. The sequence about Rat and Pig's fridge sending them messages is hilarious. And there are some pun-based ones that are so bad they're good. So it's a mixed bag.

Notes on content: Some adult entertainment-related jokes.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This guy just cracks me up. I love this comic the way I loved Calvin & Hobbs in High School.

[Martha · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love piggie!

[Kacper · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Pig ;-)))

[Asenath · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Pearls Before Swine. I especially love it when Pastis makes commentary (which he didn't, in this book)

[MsBrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some excellent strips! I miss the commentary in Pastis's other collections though. Also, some of these strips were a bit wordy. Then again, some of the strips were just sheer brilliance.

[J. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not all great, but Pastis can sure reach waaaaaaay out there and hit some solid puns.

[Ramesh Prabhu · Rating 5 out of 5]

You won't believe how this popular comic strip artist gets his ideas -- http://bit.ly/PearlsBeforeSwine (The Reading Room)

[Georgene · Rating 4 out of 5]

Every once in a while, I find a book that's just plain silly fun! This is one! Enjoy!

[Janice · Rating 5 out of 5]

So I'm addicted. But when something is laugh-out-loud funny, I can't help it. Everyone needs a good laugh, and this does it for me.

[Austin]

Really funny and cool

[Ronald · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very entertaining newspaper comic strip. Had a good time reading this collection.

[Jessi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I only gave it 4 stars because I love the commentary that comes along with the Treasuries!