Garfield Spills the Beans: His 46th Book

Garfield #46

by Jim Davis

Guilty as Charged   Garfield, the felonious feline, is up to his old tricks again—and he doesn’t care who knows it. Whether the victim is John, Odie, or some unsuspecting spider, Garfield is always guilty of fun in the first degree!

Genres: Comics, Humor, Graphic Novels, Fiction, Comic Book, Animals, Comic Strips

96 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 30, 2008

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

[Jerry (Rebel With a Massive Media Library)]

While this was mostly fun, it wasn't as good as the early days of the strip. Jon got rejected a few too many times, and Garfield spent many strips doing absolutely nothing. While I am a fan of the cartoon fat cat, I can see why he has his share of detractors.

[Lara]

I simply love Garfield. For me, those comics are childhood memories and mean a lot to me. They made me laugh.

[Ben]

Meh. Garfield.

[Fearnie]

Skvěly komiks, když se potřebujete odreagovat! Zasmála jsem se.

[Winston]

Good

[Amber Barke]

Pure nostalgia for my inner kid.

[Phyllis M. Wright]

I’m laughing so hard it hurts!

[Michael Kiripolsky]

A master class in comedy. No notes, chef kisses

[Elliot Murray]

Tried really hard not to laugh,it was impossible

[Jessica]

Jon continues to get turned down by Ellen, they visit the farm, the mice cartoons are hilarious, and the spiders keep getting swatted. I love Odie.

[Dolly]

I remember getting the first Garfield books when I was a child and laughing uproariously at them. I think I read the first ten before I got tired of them and I may even have them somewhere. So when our oldest borrowed this book from her elementary school library, I couldn't resist reading through it.

Our girls love Garfield almost as much as I did and our youngest even grabbed one of my old Garfield stuffed animals to read the book with her. I am not sure how much of the humor goes over their heads, but I suspect that it's fairly appropriate for their age level and they often giggle at the fat cat's antics.

I am afraid that I'm not quite as amused by the strip as I once was. Perhaps the storylines have been played out a bit too much after all these years? But it certainly gave me a couple of chuckles and a good dose of nostalgia.

[Mike]

A cat who loves lasagna ... what's not to like?

[Irene]

SOO FUNNY! I <3 JIM DAVIS!!!

[Lori]

Read this in the library today. Quite a few made me laugh out loud. You gotta love that darned lasagna-eating cat! "Odie, look out! That isn't a steak, it's a wall!"

[Iggy Igwell]

Garfield goes on a diet.

[Kim]

#46 is a hoot. Poor Jon and his lousy dates.

[Horace Mann Family Reading Challenge]

I love Garfiled comics because they are just so funny! Read it! K.Y.

[Elano]

It is sooooooooo funny

[Tess]

3.5 stars

[Abraham Ray]

great collection of Garfield comic strips!

[Bookworm Erica]

loooooovvee