Unsportsmanlike Conduct

Pearls Before Swine #13

by Stephan Pastis

Smart, sharp, and sometimes painfully honest, Pearls Before Swine mocks the flaws and shortcomings of human nature with cynical humor. Pearls Before Swine is the hilarious comic strip tale of two friends: arrogant, egotistical Rat who thinks he knows it all and slow-witted Pig who is painfully naive. Together with Zebra, the activist, Goat, the reluctant brain,  and the carnivorous Crocs, it offers pointed commentary on humanity’s pitiable plight.

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

128 pages, Paperback

First published February 12, 2013

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

[Jack Webb]

Such fun. Pastis is my kind of warped.

[Laurla2]

read in the pearls falls fast treasury

[Sherrie]

You can’t go wrong with a Pearls Before Swine collection. Always plenty of laughs and fun to be had!

[Riddhish Bhalodia]

4.5/5

This is a great set of "the first moderately chuckalable thing that came to my mind" set of comic strips that is a joy to read.

[Tom Varner]

It’s no secret: I’m a big fan of the comic strip "Pearls Before Swine." In my opinion it's one of the best strips currently running in newspapers. As is often the case, much of the humor in this collection of “Pearls Before Swine” strips, UNSPORTSMANLIKE CONDUCT, comes in the form of witty one-liners, witty puns, and extensive verbal gags. The book features strips that ran from February 28, 2011 to December 4, 2011. Pastis’ pleasure in using Sunday strips for elaborate puns continues. Some of the major storylines featured in the collection include one where Larry the Croc becomes the Vice President of a neighborhood Kids Club treehouse, Rat returning to work at Joe’s Roastery, a story where aliens who are just anamorphic beer cans visit the neighborhood, the imprisonment of Stephan Pastis for Rat’s anti-government tirades, and Zebra’s decision to build a huge wall to protect him from the Crocs. Characters from the comics “Dennis the Menance”, “Pluggers”, and “Peanuts” make appearances in a few of the strips. There’s also a great regular weekday strip where Pig gets a little bit of “revenge” on Rat on Opposite Day. I also like the Sunday Thanksgiving strip in this collection which features a tribute Charlie Brown. Overall, UNSPORTSMANLIKE CONDUCT is another great collection of "Pearls Before Swine" comic strips.

[Matti Karjalainen]

Stephan Pastisin "Pearls Before Swinen" tahti on vuosien saatossa hiipunut hieman (kuten nyt tahtoo käydä kaikille pitempään jatkuneille strippisarjakuville), mutta kyllä tästä edelleen nauruja saa irti kolmen tähden verran.

[Angela]

This was one of Pastis's best books yet :)

[Janice]

Always love Pearls Before Swine. These can make me laugh out loud. Very helpful after a rough day. Plus after a rough day, I tend to agree with Rat.

[Streator Johnson]

FUNNY!

[Kate]

Loved it!!! laughed until I cried at some parts. Stephen is a Pun Master - bad, but oh soooo good. (if you like that sort of thing....)