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Type of bind: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 741.5973
EAN num: 9780375422959
Format: Illustrated
ISBN number: 0375422951
Label: Pantheon
Manufacturer: Pantheon
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 108
Printing Date: September 20, 2005
Publishing house: Pantheon
Release Date: September 20, 2005
Sale Popularity Level: 56008
Studio: Pantheon
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Editor's Notes and Comments:
Product Description:
Utterly eschewing the general bonhomie surrounding the newly-minted contemporary regard for the comic strip medium as a language of complicated personal expression and artistic sophistication, professional colorist and award-winning letterer F. C. Ware returns to the book trade with “The ACME Novelty Library,” a hardcover distillation of all his surviving one-page cartoon jokes with which he tuckpointed the holes of his regular comic book periodical over the
past decade. Sometimes claimed to be his “best work” by those who really don’t know any better, this definitive congestion of stories of the future, the old west, and even of modern life nonetheless tries to stay interesting by including a luminescent map of the heavens, a chart of the general structure of the universe, assorted cut-out activitites,
and a complete history of The ACME Novelty Company itself, decorated by rare photographs, early business ventures, not to mention the smallest example of a Comic Strip ever before offered to the general public. All in all, it will likely prove a rather mild disappointment, but at least it catches the light in a nice way and may force a smile here and there
before being shelved for the subsequent generation’s ultimate disregard and/or disposal.
User popularity level:
Rated by buyers 
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I go back and forth between four and five for this book. A part of me wants to give it five stars because it's huge, it's amazing, it's detailed, it has so much great stuff; but another part of me just gets exhausted with how big this book is. I love Chris Ware and I always will. His illustrations really show how people suffer, real people at their best and worst. At their most naive and their most pig-headed. That's rare. But a hundred huge pages, some packed with over a thousand words each, just gets exhausting.
Rated by buyers 
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Ware is clearly intelligent, creative, tormented, and devoted to his work. At times he achieves real poetry, which is the highest compliment I can give any creative work. The problem is that the gems contained herein are all but lost in a dense miasma of obsessive neurotica and very uneven satire that tends toward the arch, precious, and vaguely self-congratulatory.
Some of the spoof material is quite clever and I did find myself laughing out loud appreciatively a handful of times, but in general Ware pushes the same simplistic idea way too hard, over and over, and I found my eyes glazing over and my mind ardently wishing it were otherwise occupied. It doesn't help that Ware's style--graphically, narratively, and conceptually--tends to keep readers at arm's length rather than draw them in and create the illusion of intimacy. Add to this the fact that other reviewers are not exaggerating when they say you'll need a magnifying glass just to be able to read a substantial portion of the book, and the overall effect is at best ambivalent, at worst unpleasant and annoying. I couldn't escape the suspicion that Ware is resentful and perhaps even contemptuous of his readers--the self-loathing I read in his work is outweighed by anger directed at others.
He fares much better with the narrative episodes in the volume. These are not only legible (which much of the spoof material is not--ironic considering that Ware seems much more of a designer than an artist, and one who seems to demonstrate a relatively developed consciousness of typographical considerations), but also far more complex,engaging, satisfying, and evocative. Even so, the overriding aesthetic is one of alienation and brutality--a fitting reflection of our dark world, perhaps, but one which stifles and maims the generosity and sympathy that make any truly great art the gift and blessing that it is. It's as though Ware were still seeking vengeance for whatever perceived transgressions were perpetrated on him during his childhood. I would find his work more compelling if he'd tone down the obsessiveness of the presentation and focus more on his very promising cast of characters.
Rated by buyers 
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It's as good as the reviews say. Just get it.
Rated by buyers -
I've always enjoyed Mr. Ware's contributions to the genre, but this book....What can I say?! Amazing! Not only are the storylines dense, engaging, and complex, but the book itself is achingly gorgeous. Beautifully bound, a larger size, and with such lovely cover design, it could easily be mistaken as the manual for some ornate piece of antique machinery, or perhaps the rulebook for some vast, arcane, cabal of cannabalistic mystics, but no....it's "only" a...a what..? I guess the work could be called an underground comic (possibly more "etheric" than "underground") or a 'sequentially illustrated story,' but there's more to it than that. A more intense scrutiny exposes troves of hidden extras tucked deftly in amongst the dreamlike narrative, and re-reading brings new treasures to light. This is quite alot to add to a book that is already so beautifully and painstakingly illustrated. Chris Ware's spare, fluid style reminds me of many things...a draftsman's blueprint...early baby boom era automobile advertising...and...uh...what..? Perhaps the cover illo from a post WWII sci-fi paperback? Japanese calligraphy on a grain of rice? Not quite...This work is very evocative, yet somehow still so very hard to pin down, and yes, I do agree that it takes some effort to read some of the smaller stuff! Thank goodness for that, hunh? Otherwise, how would he ever have crammed so much work into that poor overloaded, jam-packed, wedged-in-with-a-crowbar volume? This book was barely 'street-legal' as it was! So put on your specs or borrow a good magnifying glass, and drop the sniv- -its definitely worth the effort. Mr. Ware has graciously offered us many lovely gifts, so let us not complain that some of them require more delicate handling. If it were possible, I would give this book more than 5 stars--it is beautifully drawn, possesses a storyline that snares you neatly and painlessly, contains tons of hidden treats and tricks, and is so prettily bound that it almost screams 'collectible!!'....It is rare that any book deserves this title, and rarer still to hear this word being used, but here it is: I believe this book to be A TOME.
Rated by buyers 
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As another reviewer noted, the type in this book is so small that reading is an effort. And the stories are depressing enough that a little goes a long way. The book is quite lovely, but I seldom find myself reading it.
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