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ooooo ooooo .oooooo. oooooooooooo HOE E'ZINE RELEASE #621
`888' `888' d8P' `Y8b `888' `8
888 888 888 888 888 "Family Circus"
888ooooo888 888 888 888oooo8
888 888 888 888 888 " by Anonymous
888 888 `88b d88' 888 o 5/9/99
o888o o888o `Y8bood8P' o888ooooood8
[--------------------------------------------------------------------------]
Welcome to Amazon.com!
Shopping at Amazon.com is 100% secure -- guaranteed!
[--------------------------------------------------------------------------]
"Daddy's Cap is on Backwards" by Bill Keane
Our Price: $3.19
You Save: $0.80 (20%)
Usually ships in 1-2 weeks.
(June 1996)
If you like this book, write an online review and share your
thoughts with other readers!
Avg. Customer Review: [4.5 out of 5 stars]; Number of Reviews: 12
Customer Comments:
A reader from Bowling Green, OH, April 10, 1999 [1 out of 5 stars]
A waste of time for dedicated gamers I must say, I was disappointed.
While many of the other supplements for the Family Circus Role-Playing
System have provided hours of entertainment, this one fell far short of the
usual high standards. The back of the module claims that this adventure is
for 4-7 characters of levels 7-9, but my group was able to complete the
module with mostly 6th level characters and a 4th level Dolly! The entire
module suggested a lack of effort on the part of its designers. For
example, consider this random encounter table for Billy's Walk Home From
Sunday School:
01-50 Slide.
51-80 Fence.
81-90 Spiked Pit.
91-95 Ogre.
96-00 Roll Again.
Clearly someone just wasn't trying at all to capture the ambiance of
Billy's long marches. This is not the stuff of a good outdoor adventure
(and I won't even go off on the lack of hexagonal mapping grids).
It's hard to believe that this is the same company that gave us such
classics as Temple of Grandparental Evil and Stationwagon on the
Borderlands. While the revised stats for Ida Know and Not Me have been much
needed since the entire storyline was revamped and relaunched after Zero
Hour, these items do not make the module cost effective. A good gamer could
and should come up with his or her own stats.
[-----]
A reader from Dewey Beach, Delaware, April 8, 1999 [5 out of 5 stars]
Not so much a Keane as a Koan. What is the sound of one Cap on
Backwards? When are we each going to realize, as Bil [sic] Keane knows,
that we are all "Daddy"? Who's your Daddy? You are. That is just one of the
Zen lessons taught in this tome. Also, if a Family Circus is printed in the
woods, and there's no one there to read it; is it still funny? This is a
good primer for anyone willing to run off and join the Circus. Welcome to
the Family; resistence is futile, you will be asimilated.
[-----]
A reader from Baja, CA, April 8, 1999 [5 out of 5 stars]
Buy the book, then see the Bruce Willis movie! After reading this
great masterpiece, I felt an uncontrollable, almost hypnotic urge to also
buy books by Phillip Holmes, Vera Croghan, Kerstin Norris, Richard Auletta,
and Ake Viberg (the latter being especially enlightening with regard to
Swedish grammar).
Incidentally, the problem is not actually Daddy's Cap. In fact if
you look closely you will see that his cap is just fine. It's his doorknob
of a head that has got turned around 180 degrees.
[-----]
A reader from On The Run, No Fixed Address, April 8, 1999
[5 out of 5 stars]
Masonic Ploy
I owe Bil Keane my life. When I first published my review of
"Daddy's Cap is on Backwards" on March 25th, I knew that I risked the ire
of Freemasons worldwide, but I was unprepared for the dire consequences.
The Masons struck back with a three pronged attack, on April 1rst. The
assumption was that any of their actions might be concealed or
misinterpreted under the guise of April Fools. In their first gambit, an
article appeared on Fortune Magazine's Web site ("Amazon's Not-Just-April
Fools") claiming that ALL the reviews of Bil Keane's brave and daring work
were "spoof reviews," including my own.
From Fortune's article - "Another [review] delves into the supposed
Masonic references and suggests that the book's disappearance from print
has to do with a conspiracy."
"Supposed" references?!? Only to those who cannot see or, perhaps,
inclined to see otherwise. (But I will not be Fortune's fool!) The book and
my review were officially reinterpreted as "humorous and harmless" by
Fortune Magazine, the traditional mouthpiece of the Illuminati, who seem to
have temporarily ceased their century-old blood feud with Freemasonry in
order to jointly extinguish these threatening flames of truth. With sharp
teeth of "Daddy's Cap" now pulled, the book was cleverly reissued. It is
once again available through Amazon.com, and most likely supplied from the
Masons' own hoard of Keane's work. Finally, they set out to silence me. At
noon on April 1rst, I was arrested on a charge of solicitation of
prostitution as I conversed with Candi, my personal investment broker,
outside of a Super 8 motel room in Midlothian, Virginia. (How that room
came to be on my credit card remains known only to the Masons themselves.)
While in the squad car, I noticed that the arresting officer wore a golden
band on his left ring finger. For those who have drunk deeply of "Daddy's
Cap," this is the identifying talisman of all Masonic assassins, as Dolly's
comparison of her new plastic ring to Mommy's "wedding" ring clearly shows.
Knowing I had but seconds to live, I leapt from the moving car and, leg
bleeding, limped behind a local Arby's, where I hid myself beneath a recent
shipment of Horsey Sauce.
No agent of the Masons is thrown off for long and soon I saw the
"police officer" and his cohorts closing on my position. It was then that I
remembered the cartoon on page 43 of "Daddy's Cap." Billy, commanded to
return from school as quickly as possible, begins a circuitous route,
marked by a dotted line, that takes him all over the neighborhood and
through many minor adventures. Before then, I had assumed that Keane had
created this particular piece to expose the Masonic machinations behind the
infamous "Jack the Ripper" murders, with Billy as Saucy Jack, eluding
capture as he winds his way throughout the Whitechapel district thanks to
his brother Masons in the police ranks. But crouching there, surrounded by
the smell of horseradish, I realized that Keane was describing the route to
a safehouse. Of course, I will not reveal where that house is located, only
that I am close and have so far escaped detection by the Freemasons and
their agents - the IRS, the alternative rock band Goo Goo Dolls, and Omar
Sharif. (Although I believed myself a goner when, in Altoona, PA, I almost
checked in to a Holiday Inn where Sharif, the cunning strategist and 14th
degree Apron Holder, was to be speaking at a convention of bridge
enthusiasts.) Now, like Keane, I find myself hunted. While Keane lives day
to day with the hope that his high profile celebrity status and copious
"dirt" on the Masons will keep the wolf at bay, I have no such aegis.
Thus I find myself alone in this world, with only my Jansport
backpack (rugged!) and a few meager possessions - my bootleg copy of a
Philadelphia Boys II Men concert, 64 slices of American cheese, and the
Mormon Bible. And of course, my now-tattered copy of "Daddy's Cap is on
Backwards." I draw strength with every new insight it provides. I've
disguised myself with a new haircut (good call, Mommy). But more than that,
I've taken many of its lessons to heart. Only the Club of Rome will have
the might to rebuff the Masonic takeover. L. Ron Hubbard is alive and well
and fighting the good fight. And spaghetti is really funny if you pronounce
it "spa-spetty." If you do not hear from me again, you will know I perished
for the truth. A truth that Fortune magazine would laugh at. But if I can
reach the safehouse, I shall let you know. Until then, I will truly be
"Notme."
[-----]
Jason Moreno (joegwidget@tamu.edu) from College Station, Texas,
April 7, 1999 [5 out of 5 stars]
A work rivaled by no other.
Bil Keane is a master of the obvious, and yet he is able to take
delicate subtleties to a new level. While opposite in definition, these two
parts work side-by-side. Keane is able to identify the obvious traits of
children and their plain, truthful statements; however, he also allows
their subtle tendencies to come alive and flourish in this cascade of comic
delight, which is not as dry as that to which many readers are accustomed,
but which is unable to fail at bringing smiles to those who partake of this
wondrously simple flow of life that is so truthful and straight forward
that we cannot help but laugh as we realize our own tendencies to hide from
the truth. Bil Keane has hit upon something that we all need yet all hide
from at the same time: honesty. Someday, we will all be in a world without
the classic "beating around the bush." Someday, the world will not be a
mere representation of itself but rather itself in its purest form. Until
then, we have two modes of truth: the Bible, and Bil Keane. The first can
save us from ourselves; the second can save us from the deceitful world
which we have created for ourselves. And that's all I have to say about
that.
[-----]
A reader from Kalamazoo, MI, April 7, 1999 [5 out of 5 stars]
Words cannot express the joy this book brought into my life.
This book has shaped my thoughts, values and beliefs. Before reading
Daddy's Cap Is On Backwards, I felt alone and adrift in this world... but
now I have a new sense of purpose and a new view on life. Bill Keane is
more thoughtful than Deepak Chopra... more eloquent than Tom Wolfe... and
more inspirational than L. Ron Hubbard. Fifty years from now, former
Scientologists will be following the words and wisdom of Bill Keane, and
Family Circus will replace Dianetics on their bookshelves. Bless you, Bill
Keane!
[-----]
A reader from toronto, April 5, 1999 [5 out of 5 stars]
What the heck are these people talking about ? really... what
the... I mean who ?... that is to say.... - ? I don't get it.
[-----]
A reader from deep behind enemy lines. Or Ontario. Whatever.,
April 3, 1999 [5 out of 5 stars]
A greater book than this has and never will be written.
With it's bright, Warhol-esque colored cover and it's classic line
drawing in simple but varied geometric frames, Bil Keane's work is a work
of art even before you get to the text. And with it's easy, single page
layout of bite-size-for-the-common-man presentation, Daddy's Hat is On
Backwards is at once a feel good walk down memory lane and a touching
lesson in goodness reminiscent of A Prary Home Comanion and Everything I
ever needed to Know I Learned in Kindergarden. What's more, this collection
of treasured images carries an overall Zen-like message of 'hey, take it
easy man, you're hat's on backwards' that leaves you with a feeling not
only of being well read, but of read well being. But the most important
element is the is that at the same time it leaves you feeling good, it
deftly plants the seeds of revolution. Note how the cover depicts people
having a reaction to the simple act of inverting one's hat. Bil Keane,
mentor that he is, means for us to see that revolution can come quietly
from the grassroots to one day overwhelm the system and change the world as
we know it. Yes, the day is coming, the day when we can throw off the
shackles of bourgeois plagiarisms like Doonsbury, The Far Side and Calvin &
Hobbes, the day when every square inch and second of your media experience
will be Marmaduke, Mary Worth, Cathy, Charlie Brown, Garfield, Shoe and all
of it led by the unstoppable force of THE FAMILY CIRCUS! The day whent the
evils of intelligencia will be wiped clean from the face of the earth to
make way for the New Dawn! The Day is coming, THE DAY IS NOW! ALL HAIL THE
RISE OF THE CIRCUS! HAIL CIRCUS! HAIL CIRCUS! HAIL CIRCUS!
[-----]
A reader from Texas (shamrock@stateless.com), April 2, 1999
[5 out of 5 stars]
Modern-day Milton: "Paradise Lost" for Dummies
With the multi-inked strips of Family Circus, Keane takes the
outdated critical fads of the deconstructionist, 'carnivaliesque' 80's (and
early '90s) and references collagists Juan Gris and Brian Eno with eerie,
almost otherworldly, and chillingly prescient evocations of bright doom at
the fin de siecle.
For the reader who has never tired of "Laughter, the Best Medicine",
or the wit of Bennett Cerf, Keane will provide a dash of angostura bitters
with his bracing seltzer-in-the face of the body politic. Age anxiety, the
helpless poignancy of intergenerational understanding, and the inanities of
lawn care all receive their just excoriation in Keane's meticulously,
consistently formally challenges.
[-----]
A reader from Edmonton, Alberta, CANADA (eh?), March 29, 1999
[5 out of 5 stars]
Billy's Neighborhood Journeys Are A Lesson To Us All
The REAL challenge in this insightful and philosphical text is
looking past the obvious Masonic references and deep, secretive,
Objecivist undertones, so that we may apply Billy's dotted-line adventures
to our own mundane existences.
For example, when we follow Billy from the back porch, through the
sandbox, down the slide, and back into the house for cookies, we must ask
ourselves, "Why did he not drink from the hose?" and "Shouldn't I stop more
in my day, and 'drink from the hose'?".
Bill Keane is a clear visionary, and, some may say, a modern-day
philosopher.
[-----]
A reader from Fairfax, VA, March 29, 1999 [5 out of 5 stars]
His Vision Cannot Be Silenced
Let us now praise this famous book, now made "unavailable" by the
vagaries of publishing and by those who would rather forget its powerful
message. "Daddy's Cap Is On Backwards" remains as forceful today as when
it was written during the heady days of youthful rebellion and political
activism of the mid-Eighties. This scalding anti-capitalist manifesto that
dared speak out against the unjust power structures of the self-dubbed
"First World" gave voice to a generation of outraged youth whom America had
failed. Bil Keane, poet, author, political prisoner, was and remains my
greatest hero. Despite the tremendous pressure placed upon him by the
elites, he refused to cave in and make "Family Circus" the celebration of
inanity that would have pacified the masses. Instead he crafted a
passionate howl against the wind, shouting like a mad prophet to any and
all who would listen through the mouths of his "cartoon family."
As Billy struggles with arithmetic, so too do we all fight against
the impersonal forces that alienate us. Dolly and Jeffy, brilliant masques
for Kali and Vishnu, illume the spiritual vacuity of our western culture,
but also they point to the possible redemption of faith and truth in the
person of the oddly silent P.J., the metaphorical incestuous child of Dolly
and Jeffy. P.J. is hope embodied, the future made manifest. His one-piece
jumper with the little plastic feeties represents the unity of truth and
life so desperately desired by Keane and his countless followers. His
silence is the silence of the Buddha, the silence of peace, the silence of
true enlightenment. P.J. has no pockets, and thus no money, an implicit
rejection of the capitalist world. Such shocking art would of course have
consequences. The riots in Chicago as a result of the infamous "Mommy got a
haircut" strips are an unfortuate chapter in the history of Keaneism, but
such violent reactions reflect the depth and potency of the anger into
which "Family Circus" taps.
But to his critics and enemies, I ask you: would the Berlin Wall
have fallen without the inflammatory subtext of Billy's bicycle mishaps?
Would Richard Nixon have been caught without Dolly's cryptic references to
"a hair in my sp'getti?" Of course not. Keane is the most important
cultural dissident this country has ever produced. With his mysterious
"disappearence" into an unmarked van four years ago, America lost her
finest poet. It is an open secret that Keane is still alive and held by the
government in a detention facility in rural Nevada. We must demand the
freedom of this man and try to live up to the standards he has set for us.
Contact Amnesty International for how you can help. The time is now.
FREE BIL KEANE!! FREE BIL KEANE!!
[-----]
A reader from Richmond, VA, March 25, 1999 [5 out of 5 stars]
Masonic Subtext
As its devotees will surely note, the disappearance of "Daddy's Cap
Is On Backwards" from publishers' shelves is less a product of its
so-called "out of stock" status, than of the concerted efforts of the
Freemasons, whose bloody rites and hermeneutic secrets are both revealed
and lampooned by Keane under the guise of wholesome cartoon faire. Keane
treads dangerous ground even on the cover, where he sends up the higher
rites of the Third Order of Celebration, in which newly initiated Masons,
stripped to their ceremonial aprons, are made to wear a bishop's hat upside
down, and must run a gauntlet of paddles with their "cap on backwards." In
this case,
Jeffy and Billy represent the initiates, but with their hats
properly affixed, while Daddy, symbolizing a 13th degree elder, is the one
who is forced to wear the mark of neophyte shame. Such bold and risky
satire fills this seemly innocuous and workman-like effort from Keane, who
spent eight years infiltrating the Freemason power structure in an attempt
to bring it down from within, while continuing to produce his normally
facile "Family Circus" comic strip in order to fund his crusade. In the
end, Keane barely escaped with his life, after he was exposed by former
ally Jim Davis, himself a 3rd Degree Lodge Master. Now, Keane, in this
masterful work, deftly uses his "Family Circus" comic strip as a vehicle of
retribution. The once whimsical phantom "Notme" becomes a running metaphor
throughout, and whether spilling grape juice on the carpet or tracking mud
into the house, clearly stabs at the heart of the American Senate, who,
while appearing to act on Keane's call for joint ATF/FBI investigations
into the Freemasons, shunted his report to the House where it has remained
in limbo. "Notme" indeed!
For those of us lucky enough to obtain a copy of "Daddy's Cap Is On
Backwards" before the suspicious warehouse fire last December, there are
surprises and condemnation on every page. While Jeffy's accident with a
frozen treat results in the amusing neologism "plopcicle," it is clearly a
mutilated anagram of "c pope cill" or "see pope kill," the repeated mantra
of the assassins of Book, Plane and Compass, the Masonic agents of
international terror, bent on the destruction of the Vatican. But like the
Popsicle, Keane shows their efforts as falling flat. Perhaps most shocking
of all, Keane reveals through the character of Dolly, in her tea party with
Daddy on page 33, the secret of eternal life, jealously guarded by the
Masons since its revelation by the Comte de San Germain in the 17th
century. Small wonder that Bil Keane has begun using the alias "Bill Keane"
in his latest effort to stay a step ahead of the sword. Bil Keane -
humorist, semi-skilled artist, adventurer, patriot.
[-----]
A reader from Portland, Oregon, March 5, 1999 [5 out of 5 stars]
It's Better than 'Cats'
It's so yin. It's so yang. It's got a good beat and I can dance to
it. Bil Keane is to literature what Kafka is to the Martial Arts. A tour de
force. An emotional roller coaster. A forty minute spin in a tea cup of
dysfunction and bliss. I laughed. I cried. I spilt my milk. Who did? Ida
Know! Not Me! Five stars aren't enough. I give it five stars and a yellow
moon. Five stars, a yellow moon and two green clovers. No blue diamonds,
though. Blue diamonds taste like Scotch Tape. Sure, they may be
"technically" edible, but who needs them? Silly rabbit, I'm cookoo for
Family Circus!
[--------------------------------------------------------------------------]
"I Had a Frightmare!" by Bil Keane
Our Price: $3.19
You Save: $0.80 (20%)
Usually ships in 24 hours.
(November 1991)
If you like this book, write an online review and share your
thoughts with other readers!
Avg. Customer Review: [4.5 out of 5 stars] ; Number of Reviews: 18
Customer Comments:
Julio Franco from Chicago, IL, April 9, 1999 [5 out of 5 stars]
A triumph of the human spirit Keane is a product of the philosophic
and scientific rebellion of the nineteenth century. His aesthetic response
to this realistic view of nature and the universe is sensitive and
intellectual. Keane speaks contemptuously of Nature's holy plan and
stresses a view of reality in which the first cause of the universe is
unconsciousness of man's suffering and desires.
For the first time, I believe, we have found trustworthy evidence
that Keane has been influenced by German pessimism, and I am inclined to
believe that Keane adopted the term "Notme" for his First Cause because he
was impressed,sometime between May, 1886, and 1893, by the arguments
contained in Schopenhauer's great work.
[-----]
A reader, April 2, 1999 [5 out of 5 stars]
Clive Barker, move over!
This masterly narration of the terror-fraught path PJ follows to
become a full-fledged Cenobite will gnaw at your soul til the end of your
days. 3 days.
[-----]
lovecraft@aol.com (HP Lovecraft) from Arkham, Mass , March 29, 1999
[3 out of 5 stars]
A "frightmare" indeed.
In this latest installment, Keane's family must struggle with
nightmares and bedwetting. But the difference between his family and yours,
is that the monsters of the children's dreams actually DO exist! Bil and
Thel do their best to cover up the tracks outside the children's windows
every morning, but it is only a matter of time until the supernatural
cthuloid horrors devour their children's souls. And since the spell to
banish the elder gods Thel inadvertently summoned with her blender involves
child sacrifice, the suspense hangs high as we wonder which one of the
children will be gutted on the altar and how Bil will explain it to the
others without acknowledging that all their "frightmares" are real! Just
terrifying!
[-----]
ouchmyhand@aol.com from his position on the floor says... ,
March 28, 1999 [5 out of 5 stars]
I just couldn't put it down!!!
I started to read "I Had a Frightmare" last night around 8pm. I was
done with it in a jif, but I just couldn't put it down. I thought, "how
strange that I can't put this book down." Then I noticed the flesh on my
hands had been fused to the front and rear cover. It seems some kind of
chemical reaction had taken place between the moisture in my palms and the
chemicals used to give this first rate book that glossy cover. It wasn't
long before the burning sensation began. Before I knew it, the skin on my
fingers began to deteriorate and my fingernails fell off at the base. As I
ran screaming down the hall to call an ambulance, I tripped on a spark plug
that my 2 year old son P.J. had left on the floor and as I fell, I was
unable to stop myself with the book fused to my hands. I fell flat and
landed with the force equal only to the force of someone my own size and
weight hitting a similar surface. I hurt. And for the first time in my
life, I was free.
Be sure to check out other great reviews by searching "67 Feet in
the Air" on your amazon key word search.
[-----]
A reader from Faucett, Missouri, March 28, 1999 [1 out of 5 stars]
He ain't. Keane isn't.
[-----]
BluSpark97@aol.com from Los Angeles, CA , March 26, 1999
[5 out of 5 stars]
A compelling and disturbing portrait of an American family.
I Had a Frightmare indeed. Keane's compelling portrait of a
dysfunctional
American family deftly reveals the delicate layers of bruised egos and the
family's unquenchable thirst for love and acceptance in their daily
everydrama. Young Jeffy grapples with the onset of a lifetime of
gender/sexuality issues while Dolly heads full speed ahead into the world
of the conspicious consumer, devouring everything in her path, including
her own deeply hidden angst. In this Keane parallel universe, little is
exactly as it seems and the reader is torn between the terrors of the
young, bitter family and their unfulfilled hopes for salvation. Each page
is attached to the book as if glued to a common binding and the front and
back covers serve as a metaphor for the family's prison-like existence of
ink and paper. Welcome to the house of pain.
[-----]
A reader from Juneau, Alaska March 26, 1999 [3 out of 5 stars]
The triumph of the UberMench.
The sheer number and soul withering power of the reoccurring
"frightmares" should key the reader in from the beginning that this shall
be no lighthearted romp through suburbia's lawns and kitchens. Indeed, the
terrible repressed memories that have haunted little Jeffey for so long
come to the surface with a elder horror in this treasury of Nihilism and
loss. The reader is at first confused by the images of weeping clowns
crossing the pannels, staggering beneath the weight of some unseen burden
or woe, but as Jeffey's slow descent into the madness of the Ultimate Truth
reveals, they are not just leftover symbols from French Existentialist
Cinema, but an eternal reminder of the true nature of this "family circus".
Yes this world is a "frightmare", but as little Jeffey demonstrates those
who have no souls can survive it.
[-----]
Dr. Michael Torrez (coalcracker@univ-munchen.de) from University der
Braueri, Munchen, Germany, March 25, 1999 [5 out of 5 stars]
Zehr Gut!
B.F. Skinner selbst gewesen sein auf dieses anspornte psychologisches
Experiment sensorischen Entzug und Kindheitentwicklung stolz. Im dies
Moibus Streifen masquerading als zeitgen<65>ssisch Familie Stimmung, d Thema
haben sein berauben von solch vertraut Element wie M<>bel, Fu<46>boden und
Decke, Perspektive und ja, Stimmung f<>r bestimmt drei-ungerad Dekade. Die
Resultate lassen haben den erudite Prof Skinner shiver: Nicht ein der
Themen erreichte einen einzelnen Entwicklungsmeilenstein w<>hrend des
30-Jahredurchlaufes des Experimentes und ganz zur<75>ckging in infantilism und
solches childish Lautkonstruieren wie " gasphetti. " Der Steuerung Gruppe
(jen lovable Schuft von " f<>r gut oder falsch ") haben fortsetzen zu
entwickeln, wie beweisen durch ihr progressiv mehr kompliziert linguistisch
Muster und Sekund<6E>r- sexuell Eigenschaft. Interessen <20>ber das
Sittlichkeitsgef<65>hl solch eines Experimentes beiseite, diese Samen- Arbeit
beeinflussen Kind-Psychologietheorie, damit Erzeugungen kommen. Au<41>erdem
dieses Barfy eine Heftung.
[-----]
toyboatoyboat@aol.com from Big Shank, Alaska , March 24, 1999
[5 out of 5 stars]
A Frightmare indeed.
As the wind breaks and the stench rises from the rear, so doth a
frightmare appear. In an old hotel on the coast sits an old woman, rocking
in her favorite chair. Her hair, white like a thousand strands of something
white. And hairlike. She sits and she waits for her son's return. But when
he returns, calling for his mother, she is...
No longer sitting in the chair, but making dinner. A caserole of
some sort, I believe. It smells delicious. I'm scared.
[-----]
billgates@microsoft.net from Earth, March 23, 1999
[4 out of 5 stars]
I laughed, I cried and then I nearly died.
This shows how much extra time I have on my hands. I am writing this
because I have nothing better to do. The book is stupid just like me.
Thusly that is why I give it 4 stars. Now stop bothering me.
[-----]
A reader from California, March 22, 1999 [5 out of 5 stars]
50 years of drawing the same cartoon over and over daily have not
dulled Bil Keane's wit and sense of vengeance. Bil Keane astounds audiences
internationally with his stunning "I Had a Frightmare!"
I read this book from cover to cover in about 15 minutes and it
almost knocked me off my seat, it was that good.
I really liked the parts where Billy would walk to school and take
all these side routes, like petting a dog and stuff. It was really funny.
And then there were these parts where there were these ghosts and stuff
with all these weird names like Ida Know, and Not me that billy and jeffy
would say when they were really in trouble but they didn't want to get
caught and stuff it was really funny, it made me laugh so hard that milk
came out of my nose, i was drinking a glass a milk when i read it and
stuff. but milk didn't really come out of my nose. it just almost did and i
had all this stuff in my nose. it was really gross. i almost threw up.
"Not Me! Ida Know" ha ha ha ha
[-----]
uncleroy@itmniafodp.com from Seattle, WA , March 21, 1999
[5 out of 5 stars]
The John Denver of contemporary comics!
"I Had a Frightmare" sees Bil Keane stepping out from the shadows of
Schultz and Davis straight into the upper elcheon of comic artistes. What,
you may ask, could Keane have done differently this time to earn a place at
Mort Drucker's right side? I wish I knew, but it sure sounds good, doesn't
it?
Seriously, Bil Keane must've worked overtime on this collection. One
cartoon traces Billy's walk "down the block" to the bus stop. The amazing
twists and turns this simple half-block walk takes requires a steady,
patient eye in order to fully comprehend the joke. Keane manages to tie the
whole she-bang together, giving the reader that same sense of glee after
they put "Pulp Fiction" or "12 Monkeys" together.
Yes. It's that good.
[-----]
A reader from Unit D, east wing, Fairview Mental Health Center,
March 20, 1999 [5 out of 5 stars]
READ THIS BOOK!
My new psychotherapy tag-team, Dave and Kate, recommended I read
this book to gain perspective about the real-life "frightmare" that was my
own childhood. The warm, soft, and humorous content of this novel--or
"graphic novel", if you will-- reminded me of when I was ten, and finally
tall enough to wiggle out of the basement window of my parents' house.
Wearing nothing but a cigarette, I crouched in the neighbor's bushes and
watched them through their living room window for hours at a time, my heart
aching. Oh, how I coveted their love, their readily-apparent contentedness,
the complete absence of smeared feces on the walls and furniture.
Mr. Keane, thank you so much for taking me back to that night so many years
ago. I feel like I'm hiding in those bushes, watching those strangers,
every time I open one of your glorious books!
[-----]
insanepilgrim@hotmail.com from Painesville, Ohio, March 17, 1999
[5 out of 5 stars]
A Triumph of the human soul!
Magnificent! With humor and warmth, Keane shines through the
darkness of the universe like a solitary star, twinkling into infinity.
This book is yet another example of how it's possible to live a pleasant,
even enjoyable life in a world gone mad. Though Billy may come across as
rambunctious, obnoxious, maybe homocidal, his family always shows the
utmost of patience and love with him. But mostly, this book is a story of
unbridled enthusiasm. Who can deny the energy of a screaming child, raging
in her exasperation at the continued mischief of her gung-ho brothers?
[-----]
Un Poodle Fran<61>ais from Ville De Poodle, La France , March 16, 1999
[4 out of 5 stars]
Une vue inqui<75>tante d'une estacade <20> claire-voie monochrome
Vous avez- vous <20>tes-vous jamais r<>veill<6C>s d'un mauvais r<>ve, dans une
sueur froide, s<>re pendant juste un moment qu'elle <20>tait tout vraie? C'est
plus ou moins la m<>me exp<78>rience que vous appr<70>cierez tout en lisant ce
livre. Dans la tradition de Lewis Carroll, il M. immortel Keane utilise le
dispositif ing<6E>nieux du portmanteau pour cr<63>er son propre langage, trouvant
le vocabulaire de l'anglais trop restrictif pour exprimer correctement ses
visions inqui<75>tantes et d<>stabilisantes. En d<>pit de l'overreaction par
PETA <20> l'utilisation fr<66>quente des animaux de compagnie de famille comme
nourriture, j'ai trouv<75> ceci un travail la plupart du temps compatissant et
sympathique. Mais il a effray<61> le bejeezus hors de moi, je vous dira cela.
[-----]
Some other dog from Poodle City, Iowa, March 16, 1999
[4 out of 5 stars]
A distubring view of one family's monochrome heck
Have you ever woke up from a bad dream, in a cold sweat, sure for
just a moment that it was all real? That is much the same experience as you
will enjoy while reading this book. In the tradition of Lewis Carroll, he
immortal Mr. Keane employs the ingenious device of portmanteau to create
his own language, finding the vocabulary of English too restrictive to
properly express his disturbing and unsettling visions. Despite the
overreaction by PETA to the frequent use of the family pets as food, I
found this a mostly compassionate and sympathetic work. But it did scare
the bejeezus out of me, I'll tell you that.
[-----]
jeremy@thug.net from Oxford, Mississippi , March 15, 1999
[5 out of 5 stars]
A story for the ages.
While seemingly a reflection of a young disenchanted misanthrope we
see it is actually a story of an individual attempting to break the mold of
the typical gen x-er. The Frightmare, society itself, leans heavily on
little Jeffy making it almost impossible for him to function as a true
individual. His struggle with his sexuality and society's standards.
Popular media has portrayed young girls as modelling themselves after
Barbie, but we really don't see the horror of this until we see how this
'Barbie ideal' affects Jeffy's transvestite tendencies.
The Christmas scene where Dolly receives the Barbie Beach House set
that Jeffy secretly desired is a heartwrenching one. Jeffy swoons while
muttering one of the most important quotes in the book, 'Mistah Kurtz he
dead.' The Eliot reference from 'The Hollow Men' asks if we aren't all
hollow men. Is Jeffy the last true individual?
[-----]
M. Dog (oing@oing.com) from Oing City, Montana , March 15, 1999
[4 out of 5 stars]
If you buy just one book in your lifetime, this should be it
It is a scientific fact that more humans read the works of Mr. Keane
than Shakespeare and Milton combined. Why? Maybe it's because Keane
possesses more wit and humor in his little toe than Shakespeare had in his
whole foot. And although both Shakespeare and Milton toyed with the idea of
mispronounced food, neither was able to raise it to the high art that Keane
has. This literary breakthrough represents a milestone in fiction that will
change the way we look at the classics forever...and it raises the bar for
all those who follow. Already, many modern authors have tried to
incorporate mispronounced food into their writings in a futile attempt to
emulate Mr. Keane's revolutionary style. What next, Mr. Keane? What
barriers will you break down, what brilliant new trails will you blaze? I
eagerly await Mr. Keane's next tour de force.
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"I'll Shovel the Cards" by Bill Keane
List Price: $3.99
Our Price: $3.19
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Book Description:
Another laugh-out-loud volume of heart-warming cartoon classics from
the pen of Bil Keane, creator of America's favorite comic strip family,
"The Family Circus."
Synopsis:
A collection of cartoons by the nationally syndicated creator of the
beloved Family Circus features the forever young children, Billy, Dolly,
and P.J.
A new collection of the heartwarming, hilarious comic strip America
loves--Family Circus. Bil Keane and his wife Thel, model for "Mommy" and
editor of the feature, have five children, sources of most of Keane's
cartoon ideas. Original.
[-----]
If you like this book, write an online review and share your
thoughts with other readers!
Avg. Customer Review: [4.5 out of 5 stars] Number of Reviews: 6
Aurelianobuendia@macondo.com from Moscow, ID, April 9, 1999
[5 out of 5 stars]
I like cookies too, Jeffy...
One of the reasons that I enjoy reading Family Circus is because of
the many parallels that it draws between my home life and my adopted family
in the funny pages. Man, it's almost eerie how often I think to myself,
"You know, if the dad in the cartoon wore a beard, drank alot more, and
cursed at the kids more often, he'd be just like my dad." Also, "Wow, I
really like the mom's new hairdo. That's probably what my mom looks like,
even though I haven't seen her since she ran out on us when I was four." I
especially like the whole "grandfather in heaven watching over me" story
line. I sometimes feel that my grandfather is watching me too, except he's
still alive, and it's usually when I am trying to take a shower. I do
wonder when Bil Keane will begin to tackle the more difficult issues
concerning his children, for instance, "Daddy, why are you and Mommy
wrestling without any clothes? Are you mad at her?" and "Mommy, the dog is
wrestling with my leg again...and I kinda like it!" I know that these
issues take time to bring to the surface, and Mr. Keane has only just
begun. Kudos and huzzah to you, Mr. Keane...a true American genius.
[-----]
A reader from Paris, France, March 29, 1999 [1 out of 5 stars]
Towards a lesser art.
More tired drivel pours forth from the tired pen of this wretched
champion of the nuclear family. Again we are subjected to the malapropisms
of the brain-damaged dwarves masquerading as children and the utter
inadequacy of the parents Bil and Thel. But the one feature that sticks out
more than anything else is the art. All speaking characters are given
little round holes for mouths in a grotesque reference to the inflatable
love doll that is the sole companion of cartoonist Keane. The simple lines
are more insulting to Miro than derivative and the color, when Keane can be
bothered to rise from his drunken stupor long enough to apply it, is enough
to make Jasper Johns burn his canvases. In short, Keane is a modern Duchamp
placing a toilet in our funny pages and duping the establishment to take it
as more than the tedious fecal disposal of an alcoholic suburbanite who
should have been taken out and shot in the Johnson era.
[-----]
bkeane@prodigy.com from Arizona, March 15, 1999
[5 out of 5 stars]
STOP PICKING ON ME!
If you have not read my books, please don't write fake reviews.
Oh, and my name only has one "L" as in "Bil."
(bunch of retards)
[-----]
rwashington@hotmail.com from Arizona, March 15, 1999
[5 out of 5 stars]
Stop the Madness!!!!!
This has become ridiculous! It is obvious that some cult of deranged
lunatics have bombarded this site with bogus reviews. I can't imagine why
anyone would want to purposely attack a wholesome cartoon like "Family
Circus." Bil Keane has been creating clean, thoughtful, and hilarious
cartoons for our enjoyment for decades. There have NEVER been any of his
cartoons about <20>nutsaks,<2C> or <20>Uncle Roy<6F>; and how on earth are you
connecting NAMBLA with the Keanes? You sick weirdoes need professional
help! It is obvious you come from dysfunctional families. If more families
patterned their lives after the Keanes, there would be fewer sickos out
there to inundate helpful sites like amazon.com with X-rated trash. As for
this book, "I'll Shovel the Cards," it was another side-splitting
concoction of comedy cartoons that held my attention wher it is. Bravo,
Mr. Keane!
[-----]
Mkatkutani@nytimes.com from Times Square, baby, March 10, 1999
[5 out of 5 stars]
A glimpse into darkness
Bil Keane, our master of modern day American angst depicts the
desperate world of the young gambler. A young girl, trapped into a world of
the fast hustler and the turn of the cards.
Her family, unaware of the deepning sickness, remain isolated in the
placid suburbia where they remain isolated from the concerns of the world.
Only when Dolly is threatened by late night visitors, Ida Know and Not Me,
does her peril become clear.
Her brothers, rip asundered by years of conflict, are forced to pull
together to save their sister from the Mob and herself. Can the angry young
men over come their differences, forged in a turbulant childhood, to save
what is left of their family.
The climax of this book is as searing as anything John Le Carre has
ever written. Billy, Jeffy and PJ will become as seared in the imagination
as George Smiley. But instead of the murky world of post-war Europe, it is
in America's suburbia where the shadows hold menace and each turn of the
cards is fraught with suspense.
Bil Keane is at the top of his game, leaving behind Le Carre and
even Greene as the master of the shadow worlds, where every ally can be an
enemy and every friend a weakness.
[-----]
policypam@aol.com from Chicago, IL, December 14, 1998
[5 out of 5 stars]
The kids are cute, the jokes are real, a must read! What can I say?
"I'll Shovel the Cards" is, quite frankly, a shovelful of fun! This
installment of the crazy adventures of the Keane clan is a real keeper.
Previous Family Circus collections have always been heartfelt, hilarious,
and oh so true, and this one is no exception. Pick up "I'll Shovel the
Cards" today!
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[ (c) !LA HOE REVOLUCION PRESS! HOE #621 - WRITTEN BY: ANONYMOUS - 5/9/99 ]