In Search of The Far Side by Gary Larson

Far Side Collection #3

by Gary Larson

The Far Side® and the Larson® signature are registered trademarks of FarWorks, Inc.

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

Paperback

First published January 1, 1984

About the author

Gary Larson was born and raised in Tacoma, Washington. His parents were Vern, a car salesman, and Doris, a secretary. He attended Curtis High School before attending Washington State University and graduated in 1972 with a degree in communications. In 1987, Larson married Toni Carmichael, an archaeologist.
Larson credits his older brother Dan for his "paranoid" sense of humor. Dan would pull countless pranks on Gary, taking advantage of his phobia of monsters under the bed by, for example, waiting in the closet for the right moment to pounce out at Gary. Dan is also credited with giving Gary his love of science. They caught animals in Puget Sound and placed them in terrariums in the basement; even making a small desert ecosystem, which their parents apparently did not mind. His adept use of snakes in his cartoons stems from his long-standing interest in herpetology.
Since retiring from the Far Side, Larson has occasionally done some cartooning work, such as magazine illustrations and promotional artwork for Far Side merchandise.
In 1998, Larson published his first post-Far Side book, There's a Hair in My Dirt!: A Worm's Story, an illustrated story with the unmistakable Far Side mindset.

Reviews

[Hákon Gunnarsson · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is a joke in this one where a man is showing his son a singing bird in a tree in the next yard, and he is saying: "And now, Randy, by the use of song, the male sparrow will stake out his territory … an instinct common in the lower animals." The character is saying this in his fenced off yard surrounded by other fenced off yards, and irony of the thing is so striking. Not only has Larson got a wonderfully wicked sense of humour, but often his humour has got some bite to it. He is definitely funny.

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the third Far Side collection (originally published in the UK in 1985 - I read the 1993 Futura edition), featuring cartoons from 1980 through to 1984. There’s a lot to like in this (especially that some of the cartoons are from the very early days of the strip, before he’d refined some of his drawings) and my favourites include ‘The Thagomizer’ (and for the reach of the strip, look up that word in terms of real world science!), The Lone Ranger theme, “we’ll eat like kings!”, the birds and the old lady, “crunchy on the outside, chewy in the centre”, “Car!”, moments in evolution, what we say to dogs, Betsy the cow and her discovery in the freezer and Ernie Schwartz gets the willies. A terrific read, with several panels that made me laugh loud enough for Dude to ask to see what I was looking at, I would highly recommend this.

[Kevin Keating · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love all these books! Never fails to make me guffaw!

[Lonita Shirk Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quality humor

[Michael P. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Those of us who think we venerate THE FAR SIDE forget all the less stellar cartoons published between the really brilliant panels that are the object of our veneration. Any FAR SIDE collection sets us right.

[Catherine Mason · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some laugh out loud funny, some miss the mark a bit, some out of date. Not all will have made any best of compilations, but not necessarily deservedly, so it's worth checking out if you are a fan. Quick to read and cheered me up.

[Laurel Kathleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Same as it ever was :)

[Kelly Chester · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love the far side

[KP · Rating 5 out of 5]

Far side gold. Always brilliant.

[Rudy · Rating 4 out of 5]

"The Thagomizer...after the late Thag Simmons."

Glorious.

[Ryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5
One can't help but fall in love with the simplistic stupidity of Gary Larson.

[Deb (Readerbuzz) Nance · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just what I needed...a burst of quirky humor from way back. I need to find more of The Far Side, I think.

[Eleanor Blue · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mr. Gary Larson I love you

[Mitchell Friedman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Again this is the right format and length for me. And means I can read this in a single sitting. As always this is a mixture of one's I remember and one's I swear I've never seen before. 3.5 of 5

[Lori · Rating 4 out of 5]

Silly and weird. The Far Side always entertains.

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Many I didn't understand, but still humorous.

[Conan Tigard · Rating 5 out of 5]

In Search of The Far Side is even funnier than the first two, The Far Side and Beyond The Far Side. The book is a fairly quick read since there are only 100 panels. This means that it is about one-third of a year of comic strips.

Gary Larson takes us to new heights in belly-jiggling laughter as he parodies human nature. How many stupid things can a man do? Are animals really as dumb as they look, or do they actually do smart things when we are not looking? All of these answers can be found in this book.

Most will make you laugh . . . some will make you think . . . some you will just sit there, stare at the page and go...huh? But all are fun and overall you will feel a serine sense of satisfaction when you have completed your odyssey into humor.

Give Gary Larson an hour of your time, and he will bring a smile to your face and brighten your day. Hey . . . maybe I've gone overboard just a little here, but I really love Mr. Larson's work. In my mind, comic strip for comic strip, no one is funnier than Mr. Larson.

So, if you are looking for something cause your cheeks to hurt from smiling to much, pick up In Search of The Far Side. You won't regret it.

['Nathan Burgoine · Rating 4 out of 5]

More Larson humour, and as always, good for a solid chuckle or three, full of warped humour and sarcasm. I had all the books separately, and then, working at the bookstore, there was a leather-bound collection of all the comics, ever, and I caved. One by one, the individual books were released through bookcrossing. And then, when it was all done, I ended up giving the giant collection away.

Still, if you've read any Larson before, you know what you're in for. This is more of the (excellent) same.

[David Caldwell · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I was working in any of the many bookstores where I was employed and I did not want (or have the time) to read my current book, I would grab one of these collections to read on my too short break. I slowly but surely worked my way through several series. These are great time killers and will usually improve your mood no matter how hectic the day. Laughter can be the best solution to dealing with the public.

This cover just makes me laugh. The carttons inside keep me laughing.

[P.H. Wilson · Rating 1 out of 5]

Real rating: 3.7/10
The farside is the anti-humour of the comic world, most of the jokes are not jokes but statements with humorous pictures. It also sports a striking similarity to the New Yorker cartoons in the sense that people laugh at it even when they do not understand it, because in the end a cow looking cross is funny on such a base level that a flat joke gets treated with a higher regard.

[Molly · Rating 4 out of 5]

As always, Gary Larson delivers. In Search of the Far Side is funny, provocative, and insightful, like all of Larson's books. Unfortunately, as with most comics strips, it's either all or nothing, love it or hate it. If you like Larson, then you are guaranteed to love this book. If you don't care for Larson...why are you here?

[Little Miss and the Legomeister · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as funny as Garfield. ***



***This is his review so I will let it stand, even if he is very, very wrong. And I will refrain from mentioning that he's eight and probably doesn't have the life experience to fully comprehend Larson's brilliance.

[Gabriel Wallis · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Far Side remains entertaining, as always. I've been reading The Far Side pretty much since I started reading at a young age. It always brings me a smile and a laugh. As an adult, I can understand things now that I couldn't as a child. Gary Larson, thanks for making me laugh all these years.

[Lafcadio · Rating 4 out of 5]

3rd collection.

[jacky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed reading this while watching TV. Gary Larson is always funny and I love how sometimes you have to look carefully to get the joke.

[Douglas Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent.

[Charles · Rating 5 out of 5]

Superb, of course!

[Glen]

More great Humour from gary Larson

[Kaethe · Rating 5 out of 5]

blah blah blah PUNCHLINE blah blah blah

I love Larson in a purely platonic and not at all creepy way.

[Theresa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Third in the collection of Gary Larson's very off-beat cartoons. I love em, but the more you read the more brain spins.