The Saturday Evening Pearls: A Pearls Before Swine Collection

Pearls Before Swine #8

by Stephan Pastis

"There's an artful, edgy rebellion being waged in the funny pages, and one of its brightest revolutionaries is Stephan Pastis." -- Fort Worth Star-Telegram

"The cartoon Pearls Before Swine is written by a psychopath." --reader complaint, Wichita Eagle

This collection of Pearls Before Swine makes a happy return to home and hearth as only these scamps can. An iconic portrait that captures the essence of modern life, Pearls Before Swine is a heartwarming American original.

A gifted storyteller with a sick sense of humor, Stephan Pastis is rapidly becoming a master of the cartoon art form. His pearls of wisdom are sly and subversive, smart and shocking. And incredibly funny.

It's a jungle out there. The only way to survive is with friends, a thick skin, and, a good dose of cynicism.

* A sense of humor, along with a little animal instinct, is just what The Saturday Evening Pearls offers.

* Pearls Before Swine was named Best Comic Strip in 2004, and again in 2007 by the National Cartoonists Society.

Genres: Comics, Humor, Comic Strips, Animals, Graphic Novels, Cartoon, Comics Manga

128 pages, Paperback

First published March 17, 2009

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

[Radhika Gunawardena]

This one ended up becoming quite a tedious read. But I was determined to finish it. And so I did.

[melbourne]

I'm ashamed to admit that I hardly read the newspaper, not that there is much I would be missing that I do not read up on elsewhere. That said, the one thing I might be missing out on is that of serial comic strips like, Pearls Before Swine, which is hilarious. It does everything humorous comic strips always have yet pushes the boundaries by being self-reflexive and poking fun at and referencing other comic strips. The cast of characters are familiar enough yet unassumingly different that gives the strip a certain freshness. The humor is irreverent and never stale and Pastis' writing is quickly engaging.

Cheers.

[Matti Karjalainen]

Rotta perustaa tabloid-lehden ja ryhtyy Ego-Maniksi, ainoastaan omaa etuaan ajavaksi supersankariksi. Vuohi vierailee sukulaistensa luona ja aivot saavat tarpeekseen Possusta. Krokotiilien pyrkimykset syödä Seepra eivät edelleenkään tuota tulosta (paitsi ehkä pienessä ja julmassa joulutarinassa, joka saa sarjakuvan hahmotkin paheksumaan piirtäjää), mutta kuinka käy kahden naapurustoon muuttavan sinkkuleijonan? "The Saturday Evening Pearls" -kokoelman perusteella olen entistä vakuuttuneempi siitä, että häijynhauska "Helmiä sioille" on tällä hetkellä maailman paras strippisarjakuva.

[Duane]

This strip is an entertaining read because it makes fun of so many different things. From human nature, politics, money to who knows what else, everything gets panned and it makes for laugh out loud humor. A great book to read when you need a laugh.

[Bunchacrunch85]

I feel very sorry for anyone who has been denied the pleasure of reading this comic strip. Hilarious!

[Sherrie]

Pearls Before Swine is hilarious! This compilation kept me laughing out loud especially when Rat and Pig bantered back and forth. This is one of my all time favorite cartoons! Highly recommend this book if you l need a good belly laugh..

[Cathy Hodge]

Comic Strip Collection ! This was fun. I like the clever humor of Stephan Pastis. These were older strips so the politics, Puns, and pop culture references are much more palatable with time. They hold up really well. Enjoy.

[Helena]

This was the first time for me to read the strips by Pastis - clever and hilarious ideas :) I loved the Ego-Man and Danny Donkey best.

[Laurla2]

read in pearls sells out

[Alice Liddle]

One of the best ways to get a good chuckle.

[Hiram]

funniest comic strip right now!

[Janice]

Love these books and Stephan Pastis's sense of humor. Had me laughing out loud several times.