Death by Laughter

by Harry Bliss, Christopher Guest (Introduction)

Welcome to the world of Harry Bliss--a New York Times bestselling cartoonist whose gag cartoons look at the world in a fresh, twisted, and unique way. Each panel is a sharp and smart look at the paradoxes of life, ranging from lust and love to misfortune and bitterness. Bliss's cartoons expose truths so human, so real, they're timeless. However, time is running out in Death by Laughter--a collection of cartoons about death, fatality, and "the examined life" that Socrates referred to (only his gags weren't illustrated or, frankly, all that funny). Sheer Bliss.

Genres: Humor

128 pages, Hardcover

First published July 1, 2008

About the author

Harry Bliss grew up in upstate New York in a family of successful painters and illustrators, so it wasn’t any surprise that he, too, went on to study painting at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and illustration at the University of the Arts and Syracuse University. He has illustrated numerous book covers and is a cartoonist and cover artist for THE NEW YORKER magazine. In the tradition of so many NEW YORKER cartoonists, Harry Bliss has illustrated several children’s books, among them A FINE, FINE SCHOOL by Sharon Creech, WHICH WOULD YOU RATHER BE? by William Steig, and COUNTDOWN TO KINDERGARTEN by Alison McGhee.

Reviews

[MKF · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good for a few laughs.

[Sarah Berk · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good but dark

[Smh624 · Rating 5 out of 5]

A hilarious collection of Harry Bliss cartoons. I laughed out loud so many times it's embarrassing.

[Joseph Lozano · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book, I give it 4 out of 5 stars. One thing I noticed about this book is that it uses a dark humor format to show these illustrations. Harry Bliss, the author, talks about drug abuse, therapy, depression, broken marriages, affairs, death etc., and he talks about this through funny illustrations. This is really different and I like it because this dark humor made me laugh and there were so many good jokes too, not many author's like to explore dark humor because it's dark and most people won't like it, but that's why this book is different.

It affected me because I can see both world problems in a dark and funny point of view. A piece of evidence that shows his dark humor is this, "Someday, son, all this will be yours...sorry." (Bliss Pg.12). I like this page and quote because the dad is apart of the industrial revolution and is showing his son all of the factories that are outside his office. Saying it will be his and that the dad knows it's bad but still places this form of capitalism on his son's shoulders, that's why he apologizes, pretty dark, but only one of Bliss's dark humor jokes. I recommend this book to people who love dark humor jokes about anything and no filter on them too. Wonderful book.

[Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty funny - I liked it.

[RL · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like quick reads, so this book is perfect for those with a short attention span. I had fun flipping through the pages of this witty and somewhat funny compilation.