Garfield: The Great Lover

Garfield Pocket Books #1

by Jim Davis

Genres: Comics, Humor, Fiction

124 pages, Paperback

Published December 31, 1982

About the author

James Robert "Jim" Davis is an American cartoonist who created the popular comic strip Garfield. Other comics that he has worked on are Tumbleweeds, Gnorm Gnat, Slapstick, and a strip about Mr. Potato Head.

Jim Davis was born in Fairmount, Indiana, near Marion, where he grew up on a small farm with his father James William Davis, mother Anna Catherine (Carter) Davis, brother Dave, and 25 cats. Davis' childhood on a farm parallels the life of his cartoon character Garfield's owner, Jon Arbuckle, who was also raised on a farm with his parents and a brother, Doc Boy. Jon, too, is a cartoonist, and also celebrates his birthday on July 28. Davis attended Ball State University. While attending Ball State, he became a member of the Theta Xi fraternity. He earned the dubious honor of earning one of the lowest cumulative grade point averages in the history of the university, an honor incidentally shared with Late Show host David Letterman.

Davis as of 2007 resides in Muncie, Indiana, where he and his staff produce Garfield under his company, Paws, Inc., begun in 1981. He was married to Carolyn, a singer and elementary teacher whom he met while both were attending college, and has a son named James with her. However, the couple divorced, and Davis since 2000 has been married to Jill, Paws' senior vice president of licensing, who has worked there approximately 25 years.

Ironically, Davis did not own cats when he started Garfield because of Carolyn's allergies, but they owned a Labrador retriever named Molly. With Jill, the family has expanded to include children Ashley and Chris; three grandchildren, Chloe, Carly and Cody; cats, Spunky and Nermal; and a dog, Pooky.

Reviews

[Brittany Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great couple of laughs!

I love how salty and sarcastic Garfield is!

The stars of this cute pocket book (for me) were:
- GARFIELD (The Cat)
- ODIE (The Dog)
- THE GRANDMOTHER

I grew up living for the weekly funnies, Highlights For Kids, and Garfield Comics at the Grandparents' house.

Garfield is who he is, no matter who's around. This was a great message for me as a child, and a wonderful reminder now, as an adult.

I'd love to find more of these adorable, little pocketbooks. They are a true treasure!

I found this book in my fiancé's book box from when we moved. It was his Great Aunt Adelaide's December 20, 1986, and it appears this book came all the way from Australia.

I needed some laughter and childlike wonder in my day, I'm battling severe Chronic Lyme Disease right now, this did just the trick!

I was under no obligation to write a review, my honest opinion is freely given.

[Doris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another hilarious graphic novel by Jim Davis.

[Mackenzie Servera · Rating 5 out of 5]

got given this book off my english teacher because im a garfield addict, thank u hdog

[cleclementinetine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice one

[DavidO · Rating 2 out of 5]

Near as I can tell this is a collection of strips that were published in the newspaper. These strips were broken down into 34 different themes, and each theme got a book (34 books in this series), so don't expect much original stuff here.

What I learned reading this is that Garfield is best in small doses. Maybe 1-5 a day. Reading a small books worth in a half hour didn't end up being as funny as I'd hoped. Oh well, live and learn.

[Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

LOVE LOVE LOVE GARFIELD! In my opinion you can never ever be too old to appriciate Garfield. The quick humour, the funny story lines and the fact that its still in the old black and white style instead of colour.

I will try to get the rest of this series. The books are perfect to cheer your mood and never grow old!

5/5 stars just isnt enough.