I have a few more years until my daughter reaches adulthood, but I am confident in her future to continue the legacy of book love. I did all the right things early on--I read to her, I surrounded her with books, and right now we have a semi-regular date together at the local bookstore. So far it is working. Although gone are the days when I can recommend books and authors to her. If I buy her a book or check out a book from the library that is a guarantee that the poor book/author will sit in a corner unread. It is best for her to discover them on her own. She is less of an omnivore than I and is the first to admit she is a "picky" book reader. But when she discovers something she likes she jumps in feet first.

Right now she is really into humor and cartoon collections. When she was little, she liked Snoopy and Charlie Brown. The past year or so she discovered Calvin and Hobbes and had been collecting C&H collections. She told a stranger yesterday a quote from the Oatmeal and calls him one of her favorite authors. I was surprised to find in her purchase pile yesterday that she has discovered the Far Side. YES! I have succeeded.

What she didn't know is that I snuck that book out of her pile last evening and perused through it. I've missed Gary Larson, who was a big part of my early adulthood. Does he still have his section at the California Academy of Sciences--because that exhibit was fun. I think he was a first harbinger for those of us who identify themselves as tech/science geeks. But then Larson appealed to the everyman.

The mid-section of this book contains Larson's Wiener Dog Art through the Ages which is fun. And the index is awesome. The entire alphabet with nothing in it and then you get to the Ts. And then each entry is titled, "The one about..." as in "The one about the accountants." and "The one about the desert island." It was fun to take a trip down memory lane. Although this collection was missing my favorite of all time--the one about the boneless chicken ranch. ( )

As always, another classic Far Side collection. The middle insert of famous artwork paintings reimagined with Wiener/Dachshunds is great. There is some really good and memorable stills/comics/cartoons (whatever you call single cell comic strips) in this one. Even one about a border collie which is great (as a border collie owner).

Also the index is a terrific final gag. ( )

One of the Far Side collected books from my youth. Gary Larson is so great with absurdism, he literally turns it into art.

In this one, aside from the usual Far Side greatness, there is a center feature (on nice, glossy paper no less) of Wiener Dog art, just as the cover suggests. Each piece is beautiful, featuring commentary on the strange phenomena of the Wiener Dog as subject through the years, and featuring Wiener Dog art pieces from some famous names (supposedly).

I grew up loving Gary Larson's Far Side, and it's always nice to go back for a visit into his curious mind. ( )

Larson is overrated, imo. Sure he's clever, and once in a while even a bit provocative or poignant. But five stars, everybody, really? I prefer to reserve that for rating for books that will do more than make me giggle for an hour. I mean, you know why we can reread comic collections so often? Not because they're worth the extra attention due to nuances found the second & third time through - but because they don't 'stick' and are short & easy enough to go through again. My opinion.

If anyone has written a review that tells me more about *why* Far Side books are such special reads, please let me know. I will gladly amend my review if I can be persuaded that the books are richer, more complex, more resonant with the human spirit, more life-changing, or whatever. But, yeah, for now I'm stuck on the 'whatever.' ( )

As a dachshund enthusiast, and a lover of Far Side, a nice collection of comics and some "art" in the middle. ( )