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Far Side Collection #2

by Gary Larson

For use in schools and libraries only. Cartoons provide a humorous view of human nature and the relationship between people and animals

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

103 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1983

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

[Debbie Zapata]

July 4, 930am ~~ I read this very early this morning in between hose changes while watering the front yard. Originally published in 1983, this edition came from 1988. i liked the small format, made it very easy to handle, and was just the right amount of time to spend in Larson's scary/funny world.

I remembered a lot of the cartoons in this little book, and I was thrilled to see that it has one of my all time favorites. I don't know why but even after so many years I still get the giggles when I see the sketch of a flock of vultures grouped around their hidden dinner. One is a little bit outside the circle and has on a huge ten gallon hat and a cowboy shirt that is dragging on the ground. He says: "Hey! Look at me, everybody! I'm a cowboy!.....Howdy, howdy, howdy!"

[Mona]

Read this ages ago. I love Gary Larson’s zaniness.

[Peacegal]

Before "Bizzaro" was skewering the relationship between humans and animals, there was "The Far Side"...

[Mark]

The second Warner Books Far Side collection (originally published in the UK in 1984 - I read the 1993 WB edition), this is chock full of Larson goodness and, re-reading it after far too long, reminds me of why I fell in love with the strip in the first place (in fact, it features the “Betty, pull out, you’ve hit an artery” picture that got me into the Far Side in the first place). Highlights include the chin-up bar, duck relays, “I gotta be me!”, “Who’s the brains?”, goldish on the piano, Lulu’s tractor adventure, the “whoa!” spiders web, “Howdy, I’m a cowboy” and the melancholic anger of the one-legged elephant saying “a waste basket?”. Superb, extremely funny and a great read, this is highly recommended.

[Ana]

Made me giggle here and there 😄 it didn’t blow me away

[Charles]

What can you say but these are just superb.

[Andy]

Apparently 11-year-old me had occasionally great taste.

[Christopher Hicks]

I love The Far Side. It's demented humor at it's finest.

[Rick Bavera]

The Far Side (almost) always makes me laugh. The selections in this book kept up the good work.

One thing The Far Side that does for me, in addition to laughter, is remind me of my college time in Flagstaff, AZ.

My biology professor almost always started off his classes with a Far Side animal panel. Great way to begin talking about different things in biology and animal behavior, with an explanation of the animal behavior and characteristics that was behind the humor to make it funny.

[Carla]

Reread. I've forgotten just how dark some of these comics are, but, I still like them. And it's nice to reread books that I read years ago and to know if I should keep them or not. I was trying to clean out my bookshelves and thought for sure that I would get rid of all of the Far Side comic books, but, after reading this one, I just can't. They are still good today as they were years ago.

[Mohd Rizal]

The only reason I gave such a low score is because I bought another Far Side book and this one has 99.99% of all the jokes which I already have. I expected something totally different but apparently it's just. The same but in a smaller book. Not satisfied at all.

[Reagan Muchow]

Nice funny lil summer treat, I actually understood most of them (lol). Yeah, overall good and I really enjoyed the style :)

Finished it in literally 15 minutes but would recommend for non kids simply because of the level of understanding of just life in general and some old-timey jokes/figures of speeches within the panels.

[Himani Agrawal]

3.5 stars
Some really hilarious sketches.

[Laurel Kathleen]

Blah blah silly funny blah blah dad joke.

[Curlysue]

.

[Jackie]

Funny & off the wall.

[Karin Meyer]

Still funny and irreverent after all these years.

[Sarah]

Timeless. Just as good now as I remembered from my youth.

[Kelly Chester]

Love the far side

[Becky Galambos]

Humor and laughter can get us through the darkest of times, and Gary Larson is a master.

[Nancy]

One cartoon was funnier than the next but I am partial to dog cartoons!

[Emilio]

awsome

[Shandra]

Some really hilarious comics in this one, so when it hits, it hits...but overall kinda a dud.

[Mitchell Friedman]

This was fine. Not as good as the first volume. But still readable. Perhaps with a few less memorable favorites. Again this is a better length than the galleries. 3.5 of 5

[John]

Some jokes are a little out-of-date 40 years on (who remembers the Samsonite commercial?), but still funny.

[Amelia Jones]

laughed alot

[Mel]

I laughed a lot

[Javier Trost]

How can anyone not like The Far Side? Gary Larson is easily a genius who has brought numerous people joy with his cartoons. The world is without a doubt a happier place because of his creations.

[Vapaem]

This book is unequivocally fantastic.

[Conan Tigard]

Beyond The Far Side is even funnier than the first, 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 had pretty much perfected his humor by the time this book came out. While not all strips are very funny, at least they are interesting as they are usually a comment about the nature of mankind. Others make you smile. And still others make you laugh out loud. I always loved The Far Side when it was out in the newspapers, and it is still just a fun to read today.

No matter how many times I read Beyond The Far Side, I still find myself laughing out load . . . and isn't that was a humorous book should do?