Pearls Goes Hollywood

Pearls Before Swine #21-22

by Stephan Pastis

In the newest Pearls Before Swine treasury, the Hollywood dreams of cartoonist Stephan Pastis meet with hilarious—and disastrous—results!

Pearls Before Swine is one of the most popular comic strips of the past two decades, and this treasury packs in 18 months worth of daily comic strips including special commentary by author Stephan Pastis, winner of the 2018 Reuben Award for Cartoonist of the Year. The book also includes an essay about his foray into the world of screenwriting.

Genres: Humor, Comics, Cartoon, Comic Strips, Art, Fiction

256 pages, Paperback

First published March 24, 2020

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

[Rod Brown · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pretty standard entry from the long running comic strip. Sooo many puns! So much meanness! So much railing against censors and the easily offended!

A year-and-a-half of strips make for a thick book and a long read, one corny joke at a time.

[Terje · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stephan Pastis is at my age. He makes a living out of creating dry humour and he wins awards. I should really hate Stephan Pastis. I can't do that. Instead I have to admire him for creative a universe like Pearls For Swine. Sometimes cynical. Sometimes warm hearted. Sometimes very intelligent comments of today's society. And I have to admire a person with the courage to create puns so dry. It is a little scary that I can recognize parts of myself in both Rat, Pig and Goat. Thank you, Stephan Pastis, for making the world a better place and making me laugh. Keep up the good work insulting complainers and brain dead people.

[Steve · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pearls Before Swine is my favorite comic strip of those that are currently publishing new material every day. This volume collects strips that appeared in newspapers from March 12, 2017 to September 30, 2018. That was a time when I was seldom reading the strip so most of the material here was new to me.

I assumed, perhaps foolishly, that the book title Pearls Goes Hollywood indicated that some of the comic strips would involve Hollywood...or movies...or someone named Holly Wood...or Pig singing, "Let's all go to the lobby."

But I was wrong.

(There is a popcorn-related strip (p. 54), but I don't think that qualifies.)

What there is relating to the title is the front cover, which shows some Pearls characters and Stephan Pastis, the artist and writer of the strip, filming a movie, the back cover depicting a movie theater showing that movie (and Elly Elephant), inside covers with a bunch of black and white photographs of Pastis playing cowboy, and an introduction about Pastis's venture into film making (which evidently had nothing to do with Pearls). And a very cool full-color poster for the film El Desperado de Santa Rosa, starring Stephan Pastis.

Other disappointments for me were how few strips featured Zebra, whose splendid performances I have always enjoyed, and the total absence of Angry Bob.

What I do like about Pearls Goes Hollywood is that it is very funny.

I think that my favorite non-pun strips are the execution (p. 84), "died laughing" (p. 119), and sheet washing (p. 131). Two of these three involve death, which I am sure is just a coincidence.

My favorite pun strip is "umlaut" (p. 224). (And I do know that what Rat calls an umlaut is really a diaeresis, which brings much more disgusting puns to mind [my mind, at least].)

And I enjoy almost all of Pastis's editorial comments.

I repeat - this book is very funny.

[Travis · Rating 4 out of 5]

While I wanted to read other books at night, I kept going back to this treasury of Pearls Before Swine strips from 2016-2017. There's something comforting about the simplicity of a really good comic strip, especially ones like this (and Peanuts and Calvin & Hobbes) that don't dwell on current events or other topical, temporary issues. This collection didn't feel like it had as many runaway puns as usual. Instead there were some genuine heartfelt strips, many surprisingly featuring Larry the Croc and his son. Those hit especially hard since I am a dad with a son. Still, you come to Pearls Before Swine for laughs, both familiar and new, and this treasury continues the series winning streak even if there isn't a true standout strip.

[Jiří Pavlovský · Rating 3 out of 5]

Stripy jsou zajímavá kategorie. Pokud se vám povede vytvořit zajímavé postavy a dobré téma, tak to obvykle znamená, že budete to samé psát až do smrti. Jsou sice případy, které dokázaly odejít od dojného tygra, ale to jsou jen výjimky.

Po několika letech už není moc pravděpodobné, že by vás autor nějakým vtipem dokázal překvapit. V té chvíli už jde hlavně o to, jestli vás baví sám autor a jeho svět, jestli se vám líbí jeho kresby, a jestli jeho postřehy nejsou jen další variantou na „život stojí za prd a lidi taky“ (což je náplní 90 % stripů).

Když přemýšlím o stripech, u kterých jsem zůstal (nepočítám Garfielda, kterého vydáváme, a který mě překvapivě pořád docela baví), tak docela dlouho jsem vydržel s Dilbertem. A skončil jsem s ním nikoliv z politických důvodů, spíš mi přišlo, že už se řada vyčerpala a postavy nepřináší moc nového. (I když – podobně u stand-upových komiků - i tady je zajímavé, jak stripový autor zpracovává aktuální události). Až do konce jsem dojel Peanuts, což ale ve finále byla spíš taková rozcvička před sebevraždou. Po každé knize jsem měl týden depku. Samozřejmě Red Meat, ale to byla krátká série, Cyanide and Happiness… (to ale nevím, jestli vychází pravidelně), Liberty Meadows (které ale stálo na kresbě Franka Cho), bizarnosti jménem Perry Bible Fellowship, no a jasně, Calvin and Hobbes.

A právě jsem dočetl 21 a 22 knihu z řady Pearls Before Swine. Což je mix ironických postřehů a vážně stupidních (ale pečlivě připravovaných) slovních hříček, za které to autor v komiksu stále právem schytává. Jo, autor Stephan Pastis, je jednou z postav téhle řady. Jinak tu máme cynickou myš, naivní prase, angažovaného kozla, stupidního krokodýla... a občas i nesnesitelného cyklistu. Prostě dobrou sestavu pro pořádné výměny a gagy.

Ale taky už to stihlo vyvětrat a rozhodně to není taková pecka jako na začátku. Témata se opakují a slovní hříčky jsou už spíš nutností. Ale pořád ještě mě to neštve, což je u takhle dlouhé stripové série opravdu co říct. A pořád se objevují stripy, které mě pobaví – třeba ty na téma, že ideální způsob strávení života je ležení v posteli. Moje řeč.

[Steven Levine · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first section of these comments consists of excerpts from my 2021 review of this book on Goodreads:

Pearls Before Swine is my favorite comic strip of those that are currently publishing new material every day. This volume collects strips that appeared in newspapers from March 12, 2017 to September 30, 2018. That was a time when I was seldom reading the strip so most of the material here was new to me.
...

I think that my favorite non-pun strips are the execution (p. 84), "died laughing" (p. 119), and sheet washing (p. 131). Two of these three involve death, which I am sure is just a coincidence.

My favorite pun strip is "umlaut" (p. 224). (And I do know that what Rat calls an umlaut is really a diaeresis, which brings much more disgusting puns to mind [my mind, at least].)

[I wouldn't consider the execution strip among my favorites now, but it is amusing - horrifying, but amusing.]

And Pearls is no longer "my favorite comic strip of those that are currently publishing new material every day"; that is Wallace the Brave. (I know that there are hundreds, if not thousands, of strips that I just never read, many of which might be great.) Pearls is certainly still one of my favorites though. And I still think it is very funny.

And I still think Zebra should be featured more prominently.

[Colin Murtagh · Rating 5 out of 5]

There’s something about “Pearls”. It’s not got the best art in the world, some of the jokes will make your toes curl, the puns will make you groan, but I guarantee you will end up with a smile on your face at the end of it.

This is a treasury edition collecting about 18 months' worth of strips. All the regular folks are present, Pig, Rat, Goat, the wonderful Guard Duck, and of course the crocs. The strips jump from cynicism to puns, to outright silliness, all connected with a sense of pure fun.

As it’s a treasury edition there are little comments from the author dotted around. These range from comments about the strips down to complaints about his sister with tongue stuck firmly in his cheek.

A wonderful collection of a wonderful strip.

[Krystie Herndon · Rating 3 out of 5]

More like 3.5, because I chuckled quite a few times. I've discovered that the comic strip Pearls Before Swine works best for me either as a daily strip among a bunch of other strips I read online, or as a vacation read at my sister's breakfast table, before we go visit folks or go sightseeing in DC. Binge-reading a collection at home is just a little too depressing.

[Kyrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'd forgotten how funny Pastis can be. Took me a while to finish because I was limiting myself to 20 pages or less a day, just to make sure I savored the humor instead of racing through it. His comments under some strips were as funny as the strips.

[Dan Connors · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stephan Pastis is the best cartoonist working today. Alternatively silly, punny, biting, and sentimental, his characters poke at life in a great, entertaining way. This treasury of 2017-2018 strips is fun and I always enjoy his commentaries that go with the strips.

[Tony Laplume · Rating 5 out of 5]

Published last year, filled with material that seems to literally have been written for 2020. I’ve been a big fan of Pearls Before Swine for years, but I wonder what it must have been like to be reading this from a less familiar vantage point. I can’t imagine new big fans not resulting.

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pearls Goes Hollywood (Pearls Before Swine #21-22) by Stephan Pastis – Do you ever wonder if there are people out there who love puns more than you do? There is no one on the planet willing to stretch a gag so far to make the pun happen than Stephan Pastis. He wins. Happy Reading!

[Roger McCort · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stephan Pastis is pleasantly unhinged and his hilarious comments placed alongside his over-the-top comic humor is just what I need to laugh hard enough for my eyes to well with tears and my ribs to ache.

Thank you for this!

[Jerry Borrowman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stephan Pastis is my favorite guilty pleasure. I love cartoons ... and his are the best. Cynical, clever, and surprising.

[Grace Cole · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love to read the compilations- mainly because of Pastis' comments! The comics just get better and better. I know that Pastis has gotten halsted about his puns, but I love the puns!

[John Sigwald · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read-a-little-at-a-time compendium of Pearls Before Swine comic strips (daily and Sundays).

[Pierre Lafontaine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pearls before Swine is the best traditional newspaper-style comic strip. I love the treasuries for the commentary and this one did not disappoint.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I miss the story arcs with the old characters and the "Zeeba neighba" cartoons but it is still an amusing comic. I'm not a huge fan of the puns though.

[Ted Cartier · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stephan Pastis has an unique view of life and presents it in a fun and entertaining way. The book is one of his best so far.

[Tiffany · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite treasury book so far.

[Ian Sénéchal · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent, tout simplement.

[Cori · Rating 5 out of 5]

Laugh out loud hilarious, Pastis once again nails social commentary through the eyes of Rat, Pig, Goat, and his other colorful cast of characters.

[Daniel Morgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This treasury has a running storyline of Rat as president (specifically as a Trump-parody), several genuinely touching strips with the croc family, and of course terrible puns.

[Gregory Boeck · Rating 5 out of 5]

Punny Comic Book

Anyone with a legitimate sense of humor will enjoy this book.
Fairly elaborate puns are this author's stock and trade. Some are absolutely Corn Ball. But funny.

[Art · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hilarious

I'm so glad these are in digital print now. I no longer subscribe to the newspaper and the comics are what I miss the most.