Good Grief: The Story of Charles M. Schulz

by Rheta Grimsley Johnson

Explores Charles M. Schultz's wartime experiences, creation of the Peanuts characters, his strong yet idiosyncratic moral and ethical code, and the true story behind the elusive Little Red-Haired Girl

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction, Biography Memoir, Humor, Comics

262 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1989

Reviews

[Jeff Grosser · Rating 3 out of 5]

What I liked about this book, was learning some new and interesting facts about Charles Schulz. Also, that it made it clear that Schulz was a very complex man that dealt with many emotional issues. Depression, agoraphobia, and grief are issues that he battled his entire adult life. It was through these emotional battles that Peanuts was born and how it endured for many years. Without them, there would be no Peanuts empire. And although it was obvious that the author did her homework on Schulz, I wasn't that fond of her writing style.

The lure and charm of Peanuts is that it is uncomplicated and straight forward. That is why people love Schulz and his characters. The author's description of events seemed forced and unnecessarily complicated in many instances. This caused me to become bored and impatient in several places throughout the book. It's too bad that Schulz never wrote his own bio. That I would have loved!

[Mediaman · Rating 2 out of 5]

Extremely poorly written book. The writing style is obnoxious, with the author inserting her unintelligent two-cents worth at every opportunity, saying things we don't care about and adding information that has nothing to do with Charles Schulz. Add to that her facts are often incorrect (she repeatedly misspells the name of the street he lived on in St. Paul, even though it's the same name as a famous college just a few blocks away) and that she barely covers a couple of the biggest projects he has ever done.

The book was supposedly authorized by Schulz, and she did get some inside interviews from him and those close to him. But that actually makes the book worse. Instead of really opening up his life with all its warts and successes, she only covers the things he wants covered, like his continued pining over the real the little red haired girl (which she was able to interview) or the real Charlie Brown.

His major TV specials and movies? Almost nothing in this book about them! Schulz didn't like most of them (even though he wrote them) so there are only a couple paragraphs about the Christmas special and a summary paragraph of a few others. That's it. Meanwhile she writes pages on a movie called The Girl in the Red Truck that no one has seen, which Schulz thought was his Citizen Kane only to have it bomb. It makes no sense.

Overall the message comes through that Schulz was constantly depressed, a pretty negative guy, had a lot of anxieties, and despite being one of the world's most successful cartoonists never was really happy. Charlie Brown would be totally frustrated by it. Good Grief for sure.

[Sherry (sethurner) · Rating 4 out of 5]

In 1997 I went with a dear friend to the Santa Barbara Writers Conference, and I got to meet Charles Schulz, a man I had admired for years. My friend gave me this book, a good biography, so I would be prepared. I'm glad I read it, because it gave me a little insight into this talented and complicated man.

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

Light Bio of Schulz. Not too much depth but readable and interesting.

[Tg · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have never heard of Charles M. Schulz before. I have never read or watched any type of production of peanuts. However, I was able to enjoy this book to the last page.
This book is about the life and work of the creator of the comic strip peanuts. Throughout the book, you get to see that the creator of the strip is just like most of us. He was struggling throughout his youth just like most of us were. He had deep and unspoken regrets just like any of us, he dated just like we do, he loved just the same and he was denied love just as most of us were once or more in our life time. He failed in life several times just like us. He had griefs, so did we.
So what made him different?
He used those griefs as a fuel for his comic strip. Because sadness is funny when it's not happening to us (something I realized because of this book). People laugh at the kid who slipped on a banana peel and fell. Not at the kid who walked straight.
He had talent for drawing. That is a face alright. But to me, his genius is his unique observation of grief in our lives. While most of us used our griefs to gain small pities here and there, he mined it to make art.
I'd recommend this book to two types of audiences. People who love peanuts and people who love non-fictions. Nevertheless, I have a feeling you will enjoy it even you're neither. I recommend it.

[Sue · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really wanted to love this book. I love Peanuts and thought it would be a good look inside the story of Charles Schultz and his creations. The writer has an unusual style and I often found myself thinking, does she even like Schultz or his cartoon strip? There were a few interesting facts but all and all not too much insight.

[Michael Walker · Rating 3 out of 5]

Biography of the Fred Rogers of comic strips. A pleasant diversion.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, I've got good news and I've got bad news about this book.

Here's the good news first: Rheta Grimsley Johnson does not make Sparky out to be a complete maniac like David Michaelis had done so in his book Schulz and Peanuts: A Biography. In fact, she described Sparky as who he really was - A man who (despite struggling with bouts of melancholy) had the gift to draw ever since he was a child, was a proud WW2 army veteran, an avid hockey fan, and of course, somebody who loved his family unconditionally. He even liked teasing his grandkids. One of them saw Sparky open a package of candy and asked if he could have some. Sparky told him no and when his grandson got ready to walk away from him, he brought him back and poured some candy into his hand. LOL

Now, sadly, for the bad news: There's a lot of information in this book that's boring because it had nothing to do with what Schulz actually experienced in his life. Johnson was also inaccurate about when Sparky married Jeannie. It was 1973, not 1974. (Their courtship was a very short one)
The photo selection is very disappointing! There are no photos of Sparky with his children, except for one of Monte as a toddler. And there are no photos of him and Jeannie together! :-(
Look on the website for the Charles M. Schulz Museum for REALLY good photographs!

https://schulzmuseum.org/timeline/

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I rarely read biograhies but I love Peanuts ad was cuious about the creator of thse characters. I found I related to Charles Shultz. He was as passionate about his work as I am about teaching & learning. He thought deeply about things and was prone to depression. He was not impressed by money and fame and did not let the money and fame he made affect him. His characters are timeless. This was well-written, easy to read but it took me a long time because it is nonfiction.

[Randall · Rating 2 out of 5]

I became depressed reading this book. It was so depressing, Charles Schulz was Charlie Brown, a lout, a depressive, depressing lout. Consumed with the dark side of things, finishing this book was one of the hardest things I've ever done and I hated reading and never wanted to touch another book after finishing this piece of garbage. Why not a 1 star? I suppose I'm holding out the possibility there's something worse.

[Patrick O'Hannigan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Johnson covers all the bases in this sympathetic biography, including the identity of the real "little red-haired girl" who inspired Charlie Brown's eternally unobtainable crush in the iconic comic strip.

This is a good read for any "Peanuts" fan -- and who isn't a Peanuts fan?

[Tari · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I learned a lot of fun and interesting facts about my hero Charles M. Schulz, I really didn't care for the author's writing style. It was a bit too much like reading a story of cartooning instead of a biography. I felt like Charles M. Schulz didn't have a voice in this book.

[Jan · Rating 4 out of 5]

More than just a biography. In site into evolution of each character in Peanuts as well as the publishing and licensing world. Written 10 years before his death and the final strip. 50 remarkable years of producing it.

[Amy Jones · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting book and I do love Rheta Grimsley Johnson, but a lot of the information was repeated throughout the book and it didn't feel like it was organized all that well. Could have used a stronger editing hand.

[Tim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Has its moments--now I want to read "The Gospel According to Peanuts" (which Schultz disagreed with--"The only theology," he said, "is no theology") :)

[Nick · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story of Schulz and Peanuts is an interesting one. I found the first part of the book to be riveting, but later chapters felt like they were just fillers. Overall, decent, informative book.

[SouthWestZippy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great subject,good book. If you are a peanuts fan this is a must read.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting read, learned a lot about Charles Schulz. Glad I bought the book.