In the Modern Era, You Can Review a Book with Pictures

Ward Sutton agreed to review T.C. Boyle's  new historical drama The Women, on the love life of Frank Lloyd Wright. Being a cartoonist, he naturally reviewed it in pictures. A comic-book lover such as myself could not find this to be anything less than inventive, creative, and certainly uniquely compelling. A strange meld of literary critique and political cartoon, the review certainly adds a new facet to scholarly criticism.

Not the most in-depth review in terms of length, but given the limitations of the form, it is impressive nonetheless for giving us the facts we need to know. The art itself reminds me of a less repellent version of controversial comic book artist R. Crumb, with a touch more realism and fewer panties. (Whether one regards this as a compliment or not, the similarities certainly bode well for Sutton).

The work follows in the footsteps of its predecessor, satirical cartoonist Tony Millionaire, who reviewed the atheist manifesto God is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything, by Christopher Hitchens. I personally don't know how you could not make a sardonic cartoon review for a book with a title that candid.

No telling whether this bizarre new way of reviewing will catch on with the circle of critics at large, but given that we have become increasingly interested in receiving information in a concise, entertaining fashion, this could be the future of reviews. Just in case, you critics better whip out the sketchpads and start doodling.