Peanuts and Philosophy

41MV9C15EqLComing in November is Peanuts and Philosophy, a book of twenty essays exploring philosophical matters in or through Peanuts. I’d be a bit more excited if at this point this wasn’t an industry, doing “and Philosophy” books on any pop culture phenomenon. (Just as examples, the two editors of this have been involved, together or singly, in The Princess Bride and PhilosophyThe Sopranos and PhilosophyQuentin Tarantino and PhilosophyDexter and PhilosophyOrange is the New Black and PhilosophyOrphan Black and PhilosophyThe Golden Compass and PhilosophyBoardwalk Empire and PhilosophyGirls and Philosophy, and more.) One senses the creation of this book is less a case of inspiration and more one of industry…. which is in some ways a shame because it’s not as if Peanuts isn’t particularly rife for such exploration; it is at times very thematically and deliberately philosophical, and even when it isn’t there is still much to be found there. The real question is whether they’ll have found essayists who find inspiration in their own way

(But the good news is that, good or bad, this will hardly be the only exploration out there on Peanuts and philosophy, as the heavily religous-oriented Peanuts essay books and their more secular cousins have existed for half a century now.)

Upcoming releases
A book I’d not expected to resurface

Back in 2011, Schulz’s granddaughter Dena Hodges issued the first two chapters of  a memoir called In the Shadow of the Family Dog. As I noted in my review at the time, the chapter and the description of the project made it clear that the focus was her relationship with …

Upcoming releases
A box of squares

This May, Fantagraphics is collecting the various small square Peanuts books they’ve published into a new box set, Peanuts All Year Round Mini Collection. This includes: A Valentine for Charlie Brown — Valentine’s Day and romance strips Batter-Up Charlie Brown! — baseball strips Waiting for the Great Pumpkin — Halloween …

Upcoming releases
Game Day returns

Back in 2020, Fantagraphics dropped Game Day, a boxed set of sports-themes Peanuts strip reprint paperbackss, as a Costco exclusive. Next June it’s coming back, this time in hardcover and available through the usual sources. Designed as a Father’s Day gift, it should be good for anyone who likes Peanuts …