Really, Stephen King's forward to this collection sums up everything there is to say about The Far Side and Gary Larson. Its an 'either you get it or you don't'. Showing Far Side clips to people, either they laugh at the jokes like I do/did, or they look at me as if my head is spinning, vomiting pea-green soup and I may or may not be incontinent. I think its a friend barometer for me. You laugh, your in, you don't laugh, your out.

Sorry, thems the breaks. ( )

Oh, books of my past.

I've had [b:The Far Side Gallery|77281|The Far Side Gallery|Gary Larson|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1347379733s/77281.jpg|105673] books for as long as I can remember. I grew up reading these comics and giggling to myself. Every time I come back to them I understand some of the more 'adult' and scientific jokes and puns and the comics only get more enjoyable. This collection of five books is fantastic, and brings together all (?) or at least a significant amount of [a:Gary Larson|19928|Gary Larson|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/authors/1213672623p2/19928.jpg]'s work.
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While still enjoyable, Larson's cartoons are not as captivating as they were when they first appeared. At that time they were totally original and unlike almost anything that had been seen before. It's a testament to Larson's talent that for the last thirty years cartoonists have been emulating his style in trying to capture some of his magic. I rank him along with Bill Patterson (Calvin and Hobbes) as one of the all-time greatest. If it's been awhile since you've look at a Larson anthology this is well worth your time. ( )

I was quite pleased to find this at my library. While I feel confident that I have seen all of these cartoons before, even memorized some of them, it is nice to be able to go through and actually make sure that I've read each book. If I had to guess I would say that I haven't, but now that I'm able to easily keep track of this, perhaps I will before the year is out! ( )

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