Welcome one and all to the Cephalopod Coffeehouse, a cozy gathering of
book lovers, meeting to discuss their thoughts regarding the tomes they
enjoyed most over the previous month. Pull up a chair, order your
cappuccino and join in the fun. If you wish to add your own review to
the conversation, please sign on to the link list at the end of my post.
Title:
The Who, the What, and the When: 65 Artists Illustrate the Secret Sidekicks of History
Authors: Jenny Volvoski, Julia Rothman and Matt Lamothe
Perhaps no one can claim to have achieved greatness without help from someone along the way.
The Who, the What, and the When celebrates the men, women and a dog behind some of history's legendary figures. Each chapter is written by a different author and illustrated by a different artist. Among the highlights for me:
- Lulu Peyraud, mentor of Alice Waters, chef and restauranteur
- Hiroshi Arakawa, coach of Sadaharu Oh, Japanese baseball legend
- Michel Siegel, father of Jerry Siegel, Superman's co-creator
- Jack Sendak, brother of Maurice Sendak, children's author extraordinaire
- Frank Wild, right-hand man of Ernest Shackleton, explorer
- Alma Reville, wife of Alfred Hitchcock, film director
- Ian Stewart, the Rolling Stones' sixth man
Some of the sidekick's featured are reasonably well-known: Anne Sullivan Macy, for instance, Helen Keller's miracle worker. For many others, I didn't even know about the front (wo)man before. With all of the artwork, it's an extremely pretty book. It's not the sort that makes me want to run out and learn more about all these folks but it is an easy, enjoyable read.
Please join us and share your own review of your best read from the past
month. This month's link list is below. I'll keep it open until the
end of the day. I'll post May's tomorrow. Meetings are the last
Friday of each month. Next gathering is May 29th.
That sounds kind of interesting. I might have to look and see, at least, who all is listed in it.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad to have read it. It suits my reflexive sympathy for the under-appreciated.
DeleteThis is something I probably wouldn't glance it but now I would certainly pick it up and look at it.
ReplyDeleteMy wife picked this one up and I might not have sought it out on my own. I did enjoy the wide range of interests covered. 65 was a lot of people to absorb, especially with only two pages devoted to each, only one of them text. A smaller number covered in greater depth might have worked better for me.
DeleteI'd love to read about Michel Siegel, so I might check this book out.
ReplyDeleteIf you're interested in the Siegel story, I would also recommend Men of Tomorrow by Gerard Jones. It has lots of great history on comic book origins. You might already know much of it but I learned a lot.
DeleteI always enjoy a good read. This book sounds like its been painstakingly put together.Thanks for telling us who the sidekicks are!
ReplyDeleteMy pleasure!
DeleteAny book that has "illustrated" in the title is great for me.
ReplyDeleteMight have to pass on today's book review and possibly the movie review coming up.
I have a huge thehamish emergency going on right now and I will be hit or miss on posting.
cheers, parsnip
Best to thehamish. Take care.
DeleteSounds like a fun concept! I'm one of "those" people who asks who, what and when...too often. (As the only woman in a house full of males, all my conversation comes out as interrogation.)
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing!
Veronica
I have to admit, I am puzzled by the book's title. I think they could have done better.
Delete