Product Description

azine, its motley crew, and its beloved founder, the late William M. Gaines. The author offers an insider's history of the publication based on his three decades at America's favorite satirical magazine. Photos, many in color, and line drawings throughout.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #576758 in Books
• Published on: 1995-10
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 316 pages

From Publishers Weekly
DeBartolo, a longtime MAD contributor, has written not a history but a collection of often amusing anecdotes that are mostly of the sophisticated/juvenile bent that characterizes one of America's most admirable humor institutions. Magazine founder William Gaines (who died in 1992) emerges as the superstar: he calculated contracts in odd percentages, replied to letters with comments in the margins, organized a staff trip to Haiti to beg MAD's sole Haitian subscriber to renew, got stuck near the top of a climb up the torch of the Statue of Liberty and ordered enormous quantities of food at restaurants "for the table." DeBartolo also tells of his own efforts and exploits during his 30 MAD years. Interspersed throughout are numerous "forewords" from MAD contributors-Annie Gaines, Michael Gelman, Al Jaffee et al.
shanghaied into this project by the promise of front billing. Utter MADness. Illustrations.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal
YA?DeBartolo worked, played, and dined around the world with William Gaines, founder and publisher of Mad magazine. In 1961 when he received his first paycheck (attached to an acceptance letter written on cardboard for a satire he submitted to the magazine), he began his zany relationship with surely one of the cleverest men in publishing. The author entertains by sharing his and other peoples' fond memories and humorous insights into Gaines. Numerous photos and Mad illustrations accent the lively text, making this memoir hard to put down. This is a book that should appeal to anyone who enjoys the funny and Mad side of life.?Linda Diane Townsend, West Potomac High School, Fairfax County, VA
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews
A pop-culture prodigy and shameless self-promoter, DeBartolo manages to make MAD's 42-year history as sanitized as a Disney classic. There's something truly Orwellian about the effort to write Harvey Kurtzman, the creator of MAD, out of the magazine's history. Which is what DeBartolo does, commemorating instead his late boss, William Gaines, the owner of EC Comics, MAD's parent company. DeBartolo didn't join the ``usual gang of idiots'' until the early 1960s, long after Kurtzman had left because Gaines refused to give him a larger share of the comic book. DeBartolo doesn't seem to know the simple reason MAD eventually changed from a comic to a magazine: The oppressive Comics Code Authority did not regulate magazines. Frank Jacobs provided a much better biography of Gaines (The MAD World of William Gaines, not reviewed), and Maria Reidelbach's Completely MAD (1991) demonstrated a more certain grasp of the facts. So why DeBartolo's gimmicky memoir? Partly to recount his own precocious career: first contribution to MAD at 15; writing for TV at 16; saving The Match Game from an early death by adding humor to the questions; and contributing more pieces to MAD in 33 years than any other writer. Though coy about his own personal life, DeBartolo contributes to the legend of Gaines: his combination of cheapness and extravagance; his sloppy demeanor; his insatiable appetites; and his proclivity for adolescent pranks. DeBartolo loves promoting MAD so much that he reproduces the publicity slide show he hawks around college campuses. He also adds to the stories about MAD's famous group bonus vacations around the world, though a number of his anecdotes are recycled. Missing from this memoir are the great MAD artists Wally Wood and Will Elder, though there are endless ``forewords'' by some of the magazine's stalwart contributors. For MAD purists, this lumpy narrative is further proof that, after Kurtzman, it's been all downhill. -- Copyright ©1994, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Customer Reviews

I can't put it down!!
As a child I used to save my paper-route money and buy MAD magazine and share it with my brother (or vise-versa at times). Many, many years later as an adult, I was very interested on how these guys could make this magazine so funny time after time and hear the 'real' stories told from adult to another. Some of the reviews of this book are undeserved and much too harsh in my opinion.

The author shares experiences at MAD that left an impression on him and made MAD what it was and what it is. Those events also helped to define the author, his style and how he got to where he is today.

This is what the book is about. To suggest the author should have censored stories is ridiculous. That defeats the purpose of the book. Why ask a question if you don't want to know the real answer, but instead some sugar-coated twist of the truth or omission? Ignorance is bliss, and other reviewers seem to punish the author for enlightening them and, by doing so, taking away some of their bliss.

If I wanted to read a story like that, I'd of picked up a work of fiction. This story is real and the author is very humble when he shares his perspectives with us. This is not biography of Prince Charles complaining how tough life is with all these servants and money around.

It's a tale of a true journey of both discovery and growth told in a humorous fashion in a way only a MAD writer could write it. I don't think the book was written for children, although I could find nothing truly offensive about it. The complaint about an S&M photograph is just ridiculous. Its a picture of a closet with leather chaps and such meant as joke. No one is wearing them.

If you can't face reality you have no business buying this book, let along being disappointed by it.

For me, I couldn't stop turning the pages. It's funny, it's true and it does what it's author intended for it to do. Answer all those questions I mentioned at the top of this review and why I purchased the book. How anyone could have expected anything different is beyond me. How anyone could suggest 'we don't talk about those things' is just poor advice. Closing your eyes or not talking about something does not change reality. To suggest the authors stories are inappropriate is like telling a professional chef how to cook. If you don't like the food, don't eat there and complain about it, go some where else.

Good Days and MAD is the BEST historical book ever existed!
I actually don't understand why people only rated 3 stars for this book. It's awesome once you actually READ IT! I think one of you voted 3 stars because you just wanna look at the pictures. I voted 5 stars because I actually READ it. (I'm sorry if you guys HAVE read it and rate it 3 stars) The cover of the book dosen't lie! It IS a hysterical tour behind the scenes. I'll let you in a little bit of detail, since I own the book. The WHOLE staff of MAD always abuse each other. Example: Dick DeBartolo wanted to speak to the founder "William M. Gaines" Then DeBartolo heard over the phone Gaines said "He's a pain in the ass!" There's alot more abusing before Gaines said "He's a pain in the ass!" I don't remember what else he said, but it's FUNNY!So enclosing, THIS BOOK ROCKS!

- The MADDEST fan of MAD magazine

A MADman Sums It All Up...
This book is great! Well, that about does it. Have fun reading the book!

But in all fairness, this book is a great piece of literature. It is perfect for the diehard MAD fan. With only 28 calories per serving, you can trim your waistline as well! This book is a great value, using the exact same words as books costing $10, $20, $50 dollars more. STATISTICS - I counted 1,173 wisecracks made in the book, and several were even funny! This book contains 22 bonus pages, filled with DeBartolo's first works, as well as cooking and plumbing tips. The book also includes several forewords - 14, to be exact. I counted 83 chapters, 18 pictures of MAD covers, 3 MAD Minutes, and a partridge in a pear tree. In conclusion, buy the book already!