Book Notes: Schulz And Peanuts: A Biography

June 15th, 2008

Written by David Michaelis

Synopsis

Biography of Charles Schulz, the cartoonist behind Peanuts, who wrote and drew every strip over several decades, all by himself.

The Good

• Exhaustive, going all the way back to Schulz’s mid-western upbringing in St. Paul, Minnesota, where he likely received his strong work ethic and moral sensitivities.
• Events in Schulz’s life are illustrated with Peanuts strips. Many life parallels are claimed, such as Charlie Brown voicing Schulz’s personal insecurities (there was a real-life “little red-haired girl”), and the domineering qualities of Schulz’s first wife find a home in the ornery fussbudget Lucy (a favorite phrase “snap out of it” is doled out to Charlie Brown as psychiatric advice). Schroeder’s constant piano playing is claimed to be a stand-in for Schulz’s relentless strip production, much to the consternation of Lucy, who vies for Schroder’s attention.

The Bad

• The hunt for cartoon parallels sometimes goes too far; Snoopy meets a “cute beagle” while Schulz was having an affair in the early seventies. Another stretch comes in regards to a story line (called a favorite of Schulz) featuring Charlie Brown developing a rash resembling a baseball on his bald, round head, wearing a paper bag, and then being voted camp leader. Michaelson interprets the strange tale as the death of Schulz’s mother and his surprising success as a leader in the army.
• The biography largely paints Schultz as an unhappy and unloved man, to where his family is critical of the biography — despite having authorized it.
• Much from 1975 on gets short shrift, possibly because Schulz was happier during his second marriage and the author found less to support his morose thesis.

Conclusion

Despite my skepticism at some of the more depressing material, I found the book fascinating enough that I ordered the first four volumes of The Complete Peanuts books. These cool Peanuts compendiums are coming out from Fantagraphics, two a year for some time to come. That’s one good thing about this Schultz biography: I rediscovered my childhood love for Peanuts and am revisiting the Schultz’s life-long labor of love. Somehow, I think Schultz would be okay with that.

Additional Reading: New York Times