{"product_id":"the-mad-files-writers-and-cartoonists-on-the-magazine-that-warped-americas-brain-a-library-of-america-special-publication-paperback","title":"The Mad Files: Writers and Cartoonists on the Magazine That Warped America's Brain!: A Library of America Special Publication - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eDavid Mikics\u003c\/b\u003e (Editor)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eCelebrate America's zaniest and most subversive magazine in 26 essays and comix from all-star contributors, including Roz Chast, Jonathan Lethem, and Grady Hendrix. \u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eBefore \u003ci\u003eSNL\u003c\/i\u003e and the wise-guy sarcasm of Letterman and Colbert, before \u003ci\u003eThe Simpsons\u003c\/i\u003e and online memes, there was . . .  \u003ci\u003eMAD\u003c\/i\u003e. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eA mainstay of countless American childhoods, \u003ci\u003eMAD\u003c\/i\u003e magazine exploded onto the scene in the 1950s and gleefully thumbed its nose at all the postwar pieties. \u003ci\u003eMAD\u003c\/i\u003e became the zaniest, most subversive satire magazine ever to be sold on America's newsstands, anticipating the spirit of underground comix and 'zines and influencing humor writing in movies, television, and the internet to this day. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eEdited by David Mikics, \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe MAD Files\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e celebrates the magazine's impact and the legacy of the Usual Gang of Idiots who transformed puerile punchlines and merciless mockery into an art form. 26 essays and comics present a varied, perceptive, and often very funny account of \u003ci\u003eMAD\u003c\/i\u003e's significance, ranging from the cultural to the aesthetic to the personal. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cul\u003e\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eArt Spiegelman \u003c\/b\u003ereflects on how he \"couldn't learn much about America from my refugee immigrant parents--but I learned all about it from \u003ci\u003eMAD\u003c\/i\u003e\"\u003c\/li\u003e\u003c\/ul\u003e\u003cul\u003e\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eRoz Chast\u003c\/b\u003e remembers how the magazine was \"love at first sight. . . . It was one of my first inklings that there were other people out there who found the world as ridiculous as I did.\"\u003c\/li\u003e\u003c\/ul\u003e\u003cul\u003e\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eDavid Hajdu\u003c\/b\u003e and \u003cb\u003eGrady Hendrix\u003c\/b\u003e zero in on \u003ci\u003eMAD\u003c\/i\u003e's hilarious movie spoofs\u003c\/li\u003e\u003c\/ul\u003e\u003cul\u003e\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eLiel Leibovitz\u003c\/b\u003e delves into the Jewishness behind the magazine's humor\u003c\/li\u003e\u003c\/ul\u003e\u003cul\u003e\u003cli\u003eand \u003cb\u003eRachel Shteir\u003c\/b\u003e amplifies the often unsung contributions of \u003ci\u003eMAD\u003c\/i\u003e's women artists.\u003c\/li\u003e\u003c\/ul\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSeveral essays are admiring profiles of the individual creators that made \u003ci\u003eMAD\u003c\/i\u003e what it was: Mort Drucker, Harvey Kurtzman, Al Jaffee, Antonio Prohias, and Will Elder. For longtime fans and new readers alike, \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe MAD Files\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e is an indispensable guide to America's greatest satire magazine.\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eDAVID MIKICS\u003c\/b\u003e, editor, is the author, most recently, of \u003ci\u003eStanley Kubrick: American Filmmaker \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eBellow's People: How Saul Bellow Made Life into Art\u003c\/i\u003e, and editor of\u003ci\u003e The Annotated Emerson\u003c\/i\u003e. He is the editor for Library of America of Harold Bloom's \u003ci\u003eThe American Canon: Literary Genius from Emerson to Pynchon\u003c\/i\u003e. His writing has appeared in \u003ci\u003eTablet\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Nation\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eThe New York Times\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n        \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 221\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.9 x 8.1 x 6.6 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e September 03, 2024\u003c\/div\u003e\n            ","brand":"Books by splitShops","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43348805353539,"sku":"9781598537925","price":21.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0601\/4399\/2899\/files\/ae91380d92f5b1c16c017672fdfc3f38.webp?v=1780839048","url":"https:\/\/store7994.com\/products\/the-mad-files-writers-and-cartoonists-on-the-magazine-that-warped-americas-brain-a-library-of-america-special-publication-paperback","provider":"STORE 7994","version":"1.0","type":"link"}