Signed cartoon books are better than unsigned ones, but a book by a cartoonist is most interesting when the author has drawn something in it, just as a book by a novelist is most interesting when the author has written something in it. Unfortunately, a stock image of a book cover tells us next to nothing when the page of particular interest is on the inside.
Yet many booksellers continue to illustrate their listings with such images, even when the book has some attribute that makes it unique. Roz Chast's collection Childproof: Cartoons About Parents and Children (1997) is a worthwhile read, but it is surely a more interesting object when signed, inscribed, and embellished "with a little drawing of a child." It has become far more difficult to get Ms. Chast to doodle in her books at signings in recent decades, although she does make the occasional exception. For now at least, the used book market is the most reliable way of obtaining a small Chast drawing of a face in one of her collections, although one may have to purchase it sight unseen, as I did. |
Roz Chast
AbeBooks listing accessed June 16, 2023
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To my mind, fifty dollars plus $4.50 shipping is a reasonable price to pay for such a rarity. But, wait! The bookseller, Jero Books and Templet Co. of Santa Monica, has the very same book listed on Biblio at a 30% discount. A deal! My mama told me, you better shop around—and I listened to the song lyrics.
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Roz Chast
Biblio listing accessed June 16, 2023
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The format of the Sight Unseen posts hasn't changed. I pay out real money for a book I haven't seen an image of but think has a reasonable chance of being worthwhile. When it arrives, I take my own photographs of the book and present my findings here. As expected, my snapshot of the cover doesn't add anything to the stock image.
The title page, though, seems to be everything I expected:I conclude, then, that this hard-to-find book is well worth $39.50 postpaid. Of course, other opinions are always welcome.
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