The Cheese Monkeys
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2.0 • 1 Rating
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- £4.99
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- £4.99
Publisher Description
'Show me something I've never seen before and will never be able to forget - if you can do that, you can do anything.'
It's 1957, long before computers have replaced the trained eye and skilful hand. Our narrator at State University is determined to major in Art, and after several risible false starts, he accidentally ends up in a new class: 'Introduction to Graphic Design'. His teacher is the enigmatic Winter Sorbeck, equal parts genius, seducer and sadist. Sorbeck is a bitter yet fascinating man whose assignments hurl his charges through a gauntlet of humiliation and heartache, shame and triumph, ego-bashing and enlightenment. Along the way, friendships are made and undone, jealousies simmer, and the sexual tango weaves and dips. By the end of their 'Introduction to Graphic Design', Sorbeck's students will never see the world in the same way again. And, with Chip Kidd's insights into the secrets of graphic design, neither will you.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
After 15 years of designing more than 1,500 book jackets at Knopf for such authors as Michael Crichton and Anne Rice, Kidd comes out with a novel of his own, proving that the best way to learn a skill is on the job. Kidd has succeeded in crafting an affecting and entertaining work both slap-happily funny and heartbreakingly sad. The story concerns one nameless teenaged boy who's beginning his freshman year at a generic state university. In a bold step for 1957, our man has decided to major in art, a choice that leaves his roommates asking, "No kidding? As a career?" The semester begins, and he ends up in Introduction to Drawing, along with two hilarious characters who are key to the book's charm: a sweet-as-pecan-pie innocent named Maybelle Lee, and Himillsy Dodd, a radical pip of a girl fed up with art as an institution. The trio dutifully endure a bizarre curriculum that includes sketching an aging, nude custodian and capturing the essence of a cat being doused with water. But the real "fun" begins second semester, when our heroes enroll in Winter Sorbeck's Introduction to Graphic Design class and learn to look at art and life in a different light. Sorbeck challenges, frightens and bullies, making a drastic impact on his students' lives. Channeling Holden Caulfield via David Sedaris, Kidd produces a stellar debut. Oh, and what exactly is a Cheese Monkey? Readers will have to just ask Himillsy Dodd.
