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Epicurus.com - Garfield Minus Garfield
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List Price: $12.00
Our Price: $9.60
Your Save: $ 2.40 ( 20% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Ballantine Books
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 741
EAN: 9780345513878
ISBN: 0345513878
Label: Ballantine Books
Manufacturer: Ballantine Books
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 128
Publication Date: 2008-10-28
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Release Date: 2008-10-28
Studio: Ballantine Books
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Editorial Reviews:
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It’s Garfield–as you’ve never seen him!
Come savor the existential adventures of Jon Arbuckle in Garfield Minus Garfield. Based on the phenomenon ignited by Dan Walsh’s hilarious and wildly popular webcomic (beloved by The New York Times and The Washington Post, and hailed as “inspired” by Garfield creator Jim Davis), Garfield Minus Garfield takes everyone’s favorite fat cat out of the picture, leaving us with only the lonely ennui of Jon as he’s left to voice thoughts about his own existence into an empty void.
With a Foreword by Dan Walsh, creator of www.garfieldminusgarfield.net
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating: 
Summary: Hilarious For Garfield Fans & Foes Alike
Comment: There's something slightly tragic and absolutely hilarious about Garfield once you take out the title cat. We're left with poor, pathetic John talking to himself; on his own, he becomes more of an existentialist philosopher than the fall guy for Garfield's sarcasm.
In a few places, editing the dialogue differently would have made John's newly-discovered monologues even funnier. Some of his responses to Garfield are omitted, presumably on principle, even where they would have made hilarious sense.
Overall, though, this book is a terrific find for those who love Garfield and for those who can't stand him, since you'll find that Garfield becomes a completely different cartoon once you take out Garfield.
Customer Rating:
Summary: He wasn't there all along
Comment: Taking Garfield out of "Garfield" is a clever concept, and also a pretty insightful recognition that -- as with Charles M. Schulz's "Peanuts," but on a much less profound level -- there's an awful lot of sadness at the heart of this strip. When you start from the premise that cats can't talk, and that therefore Jon never shares in Garfield's interior monologue or the (alleged) punchlines of the jokes, all you're left with is a man struggling with failure, rejection, and the occasional runaway electric toothbrush. It's kind of like The Book of Bunny Suicides. Funny, but also a disturbing.
But not to get too heavy. "Garfield" is still a comic strip, and there are a few laughs to be found here. What I am particularly impressed by, though, is not only Jim Davis' ability to see the joke, but also his willingness to run with it instead of sending in the intellectual-property attorneys with cease-and-desist orders. That raises him quite a bit in my estimation. Of course, in keeping with the spirit of the Big Orange Cat Empire, Davis is making a buck off this book -- it's his name in the byline, with Dan Walsh, the guy who had the insightful recognition in the first place, granted but a Foreword. Still, for "Garfield" fans who want to see the strip in a new, and perhaps unsettling, way, or for readers who enjoy a sort of meta-analysis of a long-running media presence, "Garfield Minus Garfield" has a surprising amount going for it.
Customer Rating:
Summary: John stands alone
Comment: This is a funny, unique book. I am so happy that either Jim Davis gave permission to have this book done or that he is doing this book. This is a great book for those with a sense of humor.
Customer Rating:
Summary: What a sad life for Jon . . .
Comment: If you remove Garfield, Odie, Liz, Arlene, Nermal, Pooky, Irma, Mom, Dad, and Doc Boy, and only have Jon Arbuckle remain in the comics, then what you get is a sad life for the man. Dan Walsh, the creator of the Garfield-minus-Garfield website, has given us a shocking and clever alternative to Jim Davis's creation. Instead of him talking to his pet Garfield, Jon now talks to himself, and sometimes to an imaginary friend. It now looks more like a fight against loneliness. And it's just as hilarious as the original strips! This is surely a revolutionary move for the world of Garfield, and I still can't get enough of it (both the book and the website). I give Dan Walsh and Garfield-minus-Garfield an A+.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Garfield Minus Garfield... minus the laughs? Not a chance!
Comment: Let me get this out of the way first: I am a huge fan of the Garfield Minus Garfield website [...]. In retrospect, I am surprised noboby had thought of it earlier; Jon Arbuckle was talking to a cat this whole time, and with Garfield's removal, Jon's sad, lonely life becomes shockingly apparent. Some strips make Jon appear depressed, while others, he appears to be losing his mind. For almost a year now, Dan Walsh has been removing Garfield from the strips, and I cannot thank him enough for making me laugh with nearly every new update. Essentially, I felt I owed it to him to purchase this book.
Fast forward to the present, where Jim Davis (the creator of Garfield) has embraced Walsh's work and creativity, eventually leading onto the release of this book. In glorious colour and with entertaining, interesting written remarks by the two creative talents, I had nothing but huge anticipation for getting my hands on it.
What surprised me is that the majority of the book contain Garfield Minus Garfield strips already featured on the website, shown against the original comic (where Garfield and others are still present). This is not a bad thing at all; it is obvious that the strips were handpicked with care, essentially leaving us with a 'best of' from the archive found on the Internet. Whether Jon is talking to sock puppets, splattering ice cream into his face, or contemplating how he has wasted his life, you'll laugh yourself to death reading them. It's a great way for those new to the edited strips to get into the craze, or for current fans to revisit their favourites.
At the end of the book are Garfield Minus Garfield strips that Jim Davis himself is responsible for. These strips, while not quite on par with Walsh's work, are still quite amusing, and certainly a commendable effort.
Garfield Minus Garfield is simply a brilliant concept, and has finally received justice by being published into a book. I hope that it sells well, and I hope that you enjoy reading it. And who knows? Maybe you'll see a bit of yourself in Jon Arbuckle's life... although I sure hope not!
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