Revenge of the Librarians

by Tom Gauld

Hardcover, 2022

Status

Available

Call number

PN6737.G38 R48

Genres

Graphic Novels and Comics

Comics

Graphic Novels

Publication

Drawn and Quarterly (2022), 180 pages

Description

"Tom Gauld returns with his wittiest and most trenchant collection of literary cartoons to date. Perfectly composed drawings are punctuated with the artist's signature brand of humour, hitting high and low. After all, Gauld is just as comfortable taking jabs at Jane Eyre and Game of Thrones. Some particularly favoured targets include the pretentious procrastinating novelist, the commercial mercenary of the dispassionate editor, the willful obscurantism of the vainglorious poet. Quake in the presence of the stack of bedside books as it grows taller! Gnash your teeth at the ever-moving deadline that the writer never meets! Quail before the critic's incisive dissection of the manuscript! And most importantly, seethe with envy at the paragon of creative productivity! Revenge of the Librarians contains even more murders, drubbings, and castigations than The Department of Mind-Blowing Theories, Baking For Kafka, or any other collections of mordant scribblings by the inimitably excellent Gauld."--… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member potds1011

This is a very okay book. I definitely feel it's misnamed- only some of the comics are really librarian focused. Someone I know referred to it as "comics for a english literary major" and I'd say that's probably pretty accurate. There are a lot of classic literature references in the comics that

make them incomprehensible if you don't know the original. It could be funny at times, but this is a humor that's pretty specific and I think that's gonna have a lot of people also feel it middling at best.

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LibraryThing member Figgles

I'm a fan of Tom Gauld, and this collection of his cartoons about books, readers, writers and librarians did not disappoint. Some laugh out loud moments!

LibraryThing member ecataldi

This collection of cartoons is perfect for authors, librarians, and book lovers. Legitimately funny and eccentric - this collection of cartoons give glimpses into the minds of writers, re-works book titles, laughs at the critics and so much more. A bibliophile's delight.

LibraryThing member Salsabrarian

Bibliophiles, aspiring writers, librarians, and avid readers, rejoice! Humor for us and about us! Huzzah! With covid jokes to boot ("Where the Wild Things Are Self-Isolating" and "Brideshead Unvisited). Another fave: Classics Reissued With Lower Standards ("The OK Gatsby").

LibraryThing member LindaLiu

I got this as a Christmas present and thought it would be a quick read. There's quite a lot more to it than I had expected. There are parts that make you think - if only to try to work out what book titles are being alluded to - and there are many other parts that just made me smile, but it is more

about the author's experience than the librarian's - about 80% author humour - mostly about procrastination and the hard slog of writing and perhaps 20% about books in general and librarians? Would that be where the revenge comes in perhaps?

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LibraryThing member sweetiegherkin

This is a collection of comic-strip style cartoons by the author on a variety topics touching on books --- reading classic tales, being a writer, buying books, visiting libraries, etc. The comics are otherwise unrelated (i.e., you could flip to any page at any time and not be missing any

continuity). Despite its title, it's more about professional writing and literary tomes than libraries, but it's all done in a very funny, tongue-in-cheek style that librarians and other readers/writers will thoroughly enjoy. It's definitely amusing and hit on some of my favorite literary things, like Austen's works, sci-fi dystopian ideas, etc., taking a little jab at them but all in the good spirit of someone who loves them also.

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LibraryThing member Lisa2013

I haven’t been reading but this book has a long queue at the library and it’s due soon so I decided to try it. It was an easy read. I’m glad that I read it even though it still doesn’t feel as though I’m back to reading “real books” yet.

Many of the cartoons are geared to writers and

many are geared to readers. I appreciated both.

I loved quite a few of the cartoons. Some had me chuckling out loud. There are many 5 stars worthy cartoons in here.

There are also some cartoons that were just good or just okay and some that didn’t do it at all for me. There is a lot of repetition of themes. These are probably best read one (or a few) daily rather than reading so many in an entire book in less than 24 hours. Uneven for me but taken as a whole I really enjoyed these.

I appreciated how this book is topical. The covid pandemic is even featured in some of the cartoons.

A couple of my favorite cartoons featured cats and dogs and not only books. My favorite one says more about cats than about books.

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LibraryThing member villemezbrown

A fine, humorous follow-up to Baking With Kafka that didn't have me laughing out loud but brought on many mental chuckles. The single-page cartoons are all about books, literature, bookworms, and authors, so they get a little repetitive, but that won't turn off most book lovers like me.

A heads up

for those who prefer to not think about pandemics when seeking laughs, many gags do revolve around COVID-19.

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LibraryThing member streamsong

[[Tom Gauld]] is my very favorite cartoonist about books, authors, librarians and all things of the written word. How could I not love this clever collection!

LibraryThing member jepeters333

Tom Gauld returns with his wittiest and most trenchant collection of literary cartoons to date. Perfectly composed drawings are punctuated with the artist’s signature brand of humour, hitting high and low. After all, Gauld is just as comfortable taking jabs at Jane Eyre and Game of Thrones.

Some

particularly favoured targets include the pretentious procrastinating novelist, the commercial mercenary of the dispassionate editor, the willful obscurantism of the vainglorious poet. Quake in the presence of the stack of bedside books as it grows taller! Gnash your teeth at the ever-moving deadline that the writer never meets! Quail before the critic’s incisive dissection of the manuscript! And most importantly, seethe with envy at the paragon of creative productivity!

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LibraryThing member blbooks

First sentence: Now that you are my bride, you will never leave this castle! Wow! Your library is amazing!

Premise/plot: A collection of book-themed comic strips. Each strip stands alone. All are connected loosely by the theme of books. There are comic strips about writing, editing, publishing,

reading, reviewing, and librarying. (Okay, there's no such word. Being a librarian.) The strips also address the pandemic.

My thoughts: Each strip stands alone. Some I loved. Some I didn't. Most fall in neutral territory. It was a quick and easy read. It sometimes made me smile. I think my favorite came towards the end of the book. (There are NO page numbers. This was a little bit frustrating.) "Review Dice"

Quote:
Can't decide what kind of book review to write? Simply cut out, assemble, and roll this helpful dice! Hatchet job; super-detailed, spoiler-filled retelling; brutally polite dismissal; elegant and insightful analysis; rambling personal essay that barely mentions the book; ecstatic love letter.

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LibraryThing member labfs39

A collection of cartoons about books, novelists, and bibliophiles, Revenge of the Librarians was a fun collection to browse. His artwork is colorful and simple, and I enjoyed all the literary references. I was a bit disappointed that there weren't more librarian jokes, given the title. Many of the

cartoons are about novelists and the writing/publishing process.

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LibraryThing member ABlueBunny

This was a Christmas 2023 gift. Totally unexpected and what a treat! I am a librarian, but one does NOT have to be this in order to have a good laugh. Filled with rifs on titles, publishing, wanna-be-authors and their angst, this is chock full of visual commentary. A great way to relax after a

tiring day!

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