My Life with Charlie Brown

by Charles M. Schulz, M. Thomas Inge (Editor)

While best known as the creator of Peanuts , Charles M. Schulz (1922–2000) was also a thoughtful and precise prose writer who knew how to explain his craft in clear and engaging ways. My Life with Charlie Brown brings together his major prose writings, many published here for the first time.

Schulz's autobiographical articles, book introductions, magazine pieces, lectures, and commentary elucidate his life and his art, and clarify themes of modern life, philosophy, and religion that are interwoven into his beloved, groundbreaking comic strip. Edited and with an introduction by comics scholar M. Thomas Inge, this volume will serve as the touchstone for Schulz's thoughts and convictions and as a wide-ranging, unique autobiography in the absence of a traditional, extended memoir.

Inge and the Schulz estate have chosen a number of illustrations to include. With the approval and cooperation of the Schulz family, Inge draws on the cartoonist's entire archives, papers, and correspondence to allow Schulz full voice to speak his mind. The project includes his comics criticism, his introductions to Peanuts volumes, his essays about philanthropy, his commentary on Christianity, his newspaper articles about the creation of his characters, and more. My Life with Charlie Brown will reveal new dimensions of this legendary cartoonist.

Genres: Nonfiction, Biography, Comics, Autobiography, Art, Memoir, Ebooks

144 pages, Hardcover

First published March 12, 2010

About the author

Charles Monroe Schulz was an American cartoonist, whose comic strip Peanuts proved one of the most popular and influential in the history of the medium, and is still widely reprinted on a daily basis.
Schulz's first regular cartoons, Li'l Folks, were published from 1947 to 1950 by the St. Paul Pioneer Press; he first used the name Charlie Brown for a character there, although he applied the name in four gags to three different boys and one buried in sand. The series also had a dog that looked much like Snoopy. In 1948, Schulz sold a cartoon to The Saturday Evening Post; the first of 17 single-panel cartoons by Schulz that would be published there. In 1948, Schulz tried to have Li'l Folks syndicated through the Newspaper Enterprise Association. Schulz would have been an independent contractor for the syndicate, unheard of in the 1940s, but the deal fell through. Li'l Folks was dropped from the Pioneer Press in January, 1950.
Later that year, Schulz approached the United Feature Syndicate with his best strips from Li'l Folks, and Peanuts made its first appearance on October 2, 1950. The strip became one of the most popular comic strips of all time. He also had a short-lived sports-oriented comic strip called It's Only a Game (1957–1959), but he abandoned it due to the demands of the successful Peanuts. From 1956 to 1965 he contributed a single-panel strip ("Young Pillars") featuring teenagers to Youth, a publication associated with the Church of God.
Peanuts ran for nearly 50 years, almost without interruption; during the life of the strip, Schulz took only one vacation, a five-week break in late 1997. At its peak, Peanuts appeared in more than 2,600 newspapers in 75 countries. Schulz stated that his routine every morning consisted of eating a jelly donut and sitting down to write the day's strip. After coming up with an idea (which he said could take anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours), he began drawing it, which took about an hour for dailies and three hours for Sunday strips. He stubbornly refused to hire an inker or letterer, saying that "it would be equivalent to a golfer hiring a man to make his putts for him." In November 1999 Schulz suffered a stroke, and later it was discovered that he had colon cancer that had metastasized. Because of the chemotherapy and the fact he could not read or see clearly, he announced his retirement on December 14, 1999.
Schulz often touched on religious themes in his work, including the classic television cartoon, A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965), which features the character Linus van Pelt quoting the King James Version of the Bible Luke 2:8-14 to explain "what Christmas is all about." In personal interviews Schulz mentioned that Linus represented his spiritual side. Schulz, reared in the Lutheran faith, had been active in the Church of God as a young adult and then later taught Sunday school at a United Methodist Church. In the 1960s, Robert L. Short interpreted certain themes and conversations in Peanuts as being consistent with parts of Christian theology, and used them as illustrations during his lectures about the gospel, as he explained in his bestselling paperback book, The Gospel According to Peanuts, the first of several books he wrote on religion and Peanuts, and other popular culture items. From the late 1980s, however, Schulz described himself in interviews as a "secular humanist": “I do not go to church anymore... I guess you might say I've come around to secular humanism, an obligation I believe all humans have to others and the world we live in.”

Reviews

[Noninuna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I cannot claim that I grew up with Peanuts but I did saw them here and there throughout my life. It's not until recently that I picked up a compilation of Peanuts strips to read and I can say that I was highly entertained with it! Thus the decision to read this autobiography of the creator, Charles M. Schulz.

The book is actually more of a collection of essays or articles that he wrote and published at different magazines or newspaper etc. The composition of the articles' order that created a timeline of some sort so that the reader could get to know him first, his profession and then the art of his masterpiece. I've read an essay collection by Schulz before ( You Don't Look 35, Charlie Brown!) and I'm a fan of his writing. His honesty, philosophy and wisdom definitely come thru his words. Something that I learned from my reading is that he's definitely an oldie, who stubbornly stuck in his way and not going to follow new trend/technology. I'm not saying that in a bad way tho. The way I see it, it was because of his stubbornness to stick to drawing for newspaper's strips even when Snoopy & other Peanuts' characters already on TV commercials, being animated for TV or movie, having merchandise with Peanuts' characters, the cartoon could go on for 50 years and still being published as compilations nowadays. I highly respect him for that. You know, when you don't forget where you started, you could achieve more than you can imagine...something along that line.

[Hannah Garden · Rating 5 out of 5]

November 2010: This book is making everything better, even the stuff that was already stupendous.

March 2021: I enjoyed rereading this but didn't connect with it the way I remember connecting with it the first time I read it. I think at that time I had not considered many plain, earnest writers and there was something pleasingly monkish about Schulz's unfestooned prose. This time I found it perfectly charming, gentle and matter-of-fact, but I don't know that I'll shelve it with my holy books.

Probably will though: If a cartoonist remains within her own medium, if she does not let herself become carried too far afield and always remembers that her business is to draw funny pictures, then I believe she will have a minimum of bad days.

That's what I'm after, Sparky. A minimum of bad days.

[Alexandrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written from the man himself, this was an interesting book to begin my journey into knowing Schultz. The way he describes himself in this book is not the way he is known by others in the biographies written in him after he passed. The man behind Charlie Brown is kind of a mystery, and further intrigued me and my Peanuts curiosity.

[Beth Given · Rating 3 out of 5]

I grew up reading the funny papers every morning with my dad over breakfast. Garfield was my favorite. Hagar the Horrible was Dad's. I'd skip Prince Valiant and Doonesbury (the former was more of an adventure strip than a comic one, and the latter had people smoking in it -- unacceptable to my five-year-old self!) And I made a point to read Peanuts, even if it did go over my head quite a bit of the time. I just liked the drawings.

So when I saw this book at the library, with the affable everyman Charlie Brown beaming on its front cover, I quickly snatched it up, if for nothing but nostalgia. Once I started reading, I realized how much I liked these characters: Linus, Lucy, Schroeder, Sally, Peppermint Patty, Marcie -- oh, and Snoopy, of course. It was fun reading what their creator had to say about them: how they came to be, how they had evolved over time, how much he relied on their personalities to communicate in just the right way.

The insights into Schulz himself were interesting, as well. He talked a lot about the process and profession of cartooning that I hadn't considered before. I particularly liked this thought:

When they [visitors to his studio:] learn about the six-week daily-strip deadline and the 12-week Sunday-page deadline, a visitor almost never fails to remark: "Gee, you could work real hard, couldn't you, and get several months ahead and then take the time off?"

Being, as I said, a slow learner, it took me until last year to realize what an odd statement that really is. You don't work all of your life to do something so you don't have to do it. (p. 46)

The more I thought about that concept, the more I liked it. There are people who talk about "catching up" on their blog, or on their scrapbook -- I can understand that sentiment, but I don't feel that way; these are my hobbies and I don't do them only to be done with them! Even in my line of "work," I realized, it doesn't make sense to do it only to be done, because there are always more dishes to wash, more clothes to fold, more meals to prepare. There's more time to spend teaching and nurturing. The trick, then, is to enjoy the tasks so they don't feel like work.

Schulz didn't really elaborate in the same way I did, but I appreciated the words that sparked that thought.

Another little gem I found:

I am not concerned with simply surviving. I am very concerned about improving. I start each day by examining yesterday's work and looking for areas where I can improve. I am always trying to draw the characters better, and trying to design each panel somewhat in the manner a painter would treat his canvas. (p. 123)

The book's format makes it easy to pick up; I found it extremely readable, as though I were reading a magazine (which only makes sense, as many of the chapters of this book were originally printed as magazine articles in TV Guide or Sports Illustrated or the like). It's not meant to be heavy, profound, life-changing reading (though I found some nuggets of wisdom, Schulz doesn't elaborate on them much). Instead, it's more of a "comfort read," in the same way we have "comfort food," reminding one of a simpler time, of security, of home. It's a short book you can read finish in an afternoon or two. I liked it.

[Snail in Danger (Sid) Nicolaides · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a good one. I put it on so many shelves because Schulz devotes a fair amount of time to religion and sports. However, he also spends a decent amount of time on the creative process. For the most part this was enjoyable and thoughtful. It does, however, reflect his generational and personal biases. (The comments about much of the strip being about the suffering of young boys and that he didn't know as much about the suffering of young girls made me raise my eyebrows a little, because he had at least two daughters. And the part about Peppermint Patty's father tolerating her tomboyishness made me want to throw the book. I know, it's just a comic strip, I should really just relax.)

Because this is a collection of essays that were not originally intended to be printed together, there is some repetition. But in general, almost anyone should be able to appreciate this book, especially if they are or ever were a fan (casual or not) of Schulz's comic strip.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Neat book by a neat person. Not what I'd consider a page-turner, though. This is a compilation of essays, articles, addresses and the like by cartoonist Charles Schulz. There is some repetition because of the format, but not too much. I didn't realize the book would be in this format, or I might have chosen to read Peanuts Jubilee (Charles Schulz's autobiography) instead.

I like Charles Schulz's style. He doesn't have an inflated sense of self and frequently reminds the audience that his profession consists of merely "drawing funny papers." He has a lot to say about his field, though. It was really quite interesting. He expresses himself simply and frankly. Even though Charles Schulz is "a guy who just draws a dog and little kids with big heads," he has a lot of wisdom to impart.

[Einar Jensen · Rating 4 out of 5]

While I laud Charles M. Schulz for his drawing and writing with the “Peanuts” comic strips and related media, his prose wasn’t as stellar as I expected. I consider myself a competent writer, but my cartoon drawing... weak would be a grand exaggeration. I don’t know why he should have to be great at both. 😂

I borrowed this funky collection of his writings and speeches from the library to learn more about Schulz. The individual parts do contain autobiographical elements about his life and career that are fascinating, but they also are somewhat discombobulated. They also repeat some of the content. One of the best chapters in this book was a book review that Schultz wrote for the New York Herald Tribune in June 1963. He reviewed a book that tried to summarize the cultural impact of comics.

The best chapter is almost at the end of the book. Schulz describes individual characters from the comic strip and why he drew them the way that he did. For example he explains why he draws Linus holding his blanket from a front view. “With his large head and short arms, it would be very difficult to draw the line is sucking his thumb from Sideview, but he would have a hard time stretching his arm out that far.” Yeah, I recommend this book.

[Jayson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can’t tell you how much I loved reading this. I have been a Peanuts fan all my life and when I found this book I at first thought this was going to be an autobiography. Sadly, it wasn’t the case, however, it’s still full of interviews, articles, essays etc. that was written by the great Charles M. Schulz himself over the years that didn’t disappoint and made me crave even more on learning about this man and looking at more into his work. Schulz, or rather, Sparky’s book is very inspirational not only to comic strip artists, but to all artists of many fields, in my opinion. If you’re Peanuts fan, or just need to be inspired, pick this one up.

[Spencer · Rating 5 out of 5]

A collection of essays, of sorts, written by him. Talks about his life, the characters, his family some. Very insightful for me to get to know him and his personality.

Note: the Google Books version takes out the strips shown throughout, if anyone knows of digital versions with the strips, let us know

[I A · Rating 2 out of 5]

More like 2.5 stars. Schulz never wrote an autobiography, so this collection of personal writings and speeches of his helps us learn more about his life, creative process, and Peanuts characters. Some parts are engrossing, while others not so much.

[Graham Bradley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best of year list for 2022.

[Nazaret · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nunca había leído nada de Charlie Brown más allá de alguna viñeta en internet. Pero la verdad es que no me ha parecido un humor desternillante, sino más bien algo sutil e inteligente.

[Cailey Titrud · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Charles Schulz so damn much

[Elusive · Rating 4 out of 5]

‘My Life with Charlie Brown’ is an autobiography about the well-known creator of ‘Peanuts’, the late Charles Monroe Schulz. It features excerpts of his comic strips as well as his articles covering a variety of topics.

I’m usually not interested in reading autobiographies but the content of this book sounded promising and driven by general curiosity, I decided to explore this and I’m glad that I did. I found Schulz’s articles to be very well-written, straight from the heart, enlightening and educational all at once. There was a personal touch to everything he wrote hence it was somewhat of a journey in which I got acquainted with him, his thought process and his life experiences. Besides that, he delved into his interests such as music, (of course) drawing comic strips as well as playing golf and baseball. I liked how he incorporated his personal interests into his strips.

In addition, I learned a lot about what it’s like to be a cartoonist. Schulz explained how at times it could be challenging to come up with fresh and funny ideas, how he had to beat the deadlines to submit his strips and how prior to getting his big break he had to constantly send in his strips hoping someone would publish them. I’ve never given much thought to cartoonists’ job nature (let alone viewed it as a job for it had always seemed to be more of a hobby from my perspective) thus I appreciated Schulz’s in-depth and honest insights.

His advice regarding ways to create successful comics and to have a continuous stream of ideas that work well for one’s comics was certainly valuable and made a lot of sense. He also explained his inspiration behind each character and how their personality and respective attributes came about. I particularly enjoyed learning about Snoopy (undoubtedly my favourite character) and liked it when Schulz stated that he had to make sure Snoopy didn’t end up taking over the entire comic. I can easily envision that happening.

His articles gave me the impression that he was someone incredibly introspective, mature, intelligent and knowledgeable. He provided plenty of useful, sensible and timeless advice. In fact, many of them were definitely quote-worthy. For instance, on the subject of how to avoid becoming a boring person – “The way to prevent all that, I suppose, is by maintaining an interest in others and forgetting about yourself.” In short, I gained a lot of knowledge which was delivered appealingly via this book.

Overall, ‘My Life with Charlie Brown’ was a truly enjoyable reading experience as it had a generous combination of several elements – entertainment, education, humour, bittersweet moments and most importantly, great writing coupled with sincerity.

[Doel Jaikishen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good collection of essays by Charles Schulz on a cartoonist's life, art, etc. Very honest and concise thoughts on a range of topics. Really enjoyed reading it.

[Melinda · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a collection of essays, a book review, and one speech. The speech is actually the weakest section. The essays are thoughtful and interesting. I learned a bit more about Charles Schultz, in his own words, and I like him, as well as one can like an author one has never met in person. I understand now why his comic strip comes across as cynical and not positive; he believes that sadness is funny. Not malicious, not hurtful intentionally, but he found that depressing things led to funny comic strips. I also find that humor can be found in sad things, though I don't think it's the exclusive realm of sad things, to be potentially funny. I think winning can also entertain... maybe not in the same way.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh my gosh, I loved this book so!

Like Peanuts Jubilee, this book is also what I call a sorta autobiography. While Sparky tells his life story, it's not in the ordinary autobiography format. But unlike Peanuts Jubilee, there aren't any photos of Sparky in this book...just of the Peanuts characters. You'll find sections in this book that are also in Peanuts Jubilee and even a poem that he had written for his wife [Jeannie].
I guarantee that if you liked Peanuts Jubilee, you'll also like My Life With Charlie Brown!

[Phil · Rating 3 out of 5]

An light quick read. It's a collection of Charles Shultz's essays, magazine articles, and letters, primarily about the art of the cartoon. As a result, it's a bit disjointed and repetitive, but easy to digest or skim as appropriate.He comes across as a very focussed individual, and fairly serious.

Enjoyable and insightful look at a guy who basically spent 50 years doing the same thing every day (he wrote/drew one strip a day, every day).

[Michael P. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Charles M. Schulz asserts in this book that is not a great writer, but a fairly good writer. Nail on the head. Nobody is going to read this book for style or compelling narrative pacing, but it is an informative and quite readable account of his mind at different points after he became quite successful about his ideas, his comic strips, and practical advice based on his experiences. It is highly recommended on this basis.

[Rob · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short but very enjoyable book. It is a collection of Schulz's writings over the course of his career. You can see the man is very similar to the comic strip he wrote for half a century. His work ethic and commitment is impressive. He personally wrote and drew every single Peanuts strip - more than 17,000 of them!

Oh and he hated the title "Peanuts". He wanted to call it "Good Ol' Charlie Brown".

[Amy Campbell · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a collect of essays and articles that Charles Schulz had written for other venues. It was an interesting idea for a book but it did lend itself to have lots of repetition that would not have been there if the words had been written to be one book. But I still enjoyed learning more about this iconic writer and artist.

[Andy Mitchell · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book of essays by the famous cartoonist is fascinating. Unfortunately, the editor includes every narrative available to him. This results in some awkward and unnecessary repetition.

However, the quality of Schultz's writing makes the repetition more than tolerable.

If you're curious about why "Sparky" hated the name Peanuts for his strip, then you should read this book.

[Corey Peters · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, not what I expected when I grabbed it on impulse at the library. A collection of writings by Schulz that appeared in various magazines over the years. The ones where he talks directly about the strip are fun; the rest vary in quality. Oh, and you get his college book report...no, really. Ok, but next time I'm grabbing the biography.

[Ray Charbonneau · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some repetitions. More interesting if you haven't read any Schultz bios.

[Kathie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I know I am biased when it comes to all things Peanuts, but I enjoyed the story from Charles Schulz's point of view. I've read his biography but this book was lighter and had lots of strips to read.

[DrNurse81 · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really appreciate how animated the author himself was. He was such a down to earth person that I could easily related to which makes his characters all the more loveable and beloved.

[Rui Huang · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thoughtful essays from the great Charles M. Schulz. Although not known for his writing, his insight into the comic world is definitely interesting.

[Sandybear76 · Rating 3 out of 5]

A set of essays and other writings for speeches, magazines, and other print materials by Charles Schulz.

[Penelope]

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7...#