Product Description

It's been a long time coming, but Ballard Street fans can finally get their fix. In this first Ballard Street cartoon collection, cartoonist Jerry Van Amerongen (previously of The Neighborhood) is at his best, creating an assortment of panels that have one thing in common: an intense level of absurdity! On every page, the deranged antics of weird suburbanite characters provide delight for all.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1450065 in Books
• Published on: 1998-09-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 144 pages

Customer Reviews

Rut Bound Dullards and Their Soaring Fantasies
J Amerongen entertains us by divulging the home life, and inner musings of the folks who go through life being totally ignored. They have hum drum jobs, and share their boredom with a boring spouse. One man enjoys talking to his weeds, while Jocelyn posts household hints on her front window. Aaron sits stunned in his office as he realizes an original thought just passed through his brain. Others engage in a battle of wits with their dogs. They generally lose. Some find their world too stressful and drive up to the drive in therapy window for help.

Strange humor? You bet, but to me its the most hilarious stuff in the world. I was very disappointed when I bought the book, though, because at 144 pages I thought, "Oh no, I can read this at one sitting." My solution? I limited my reading of it to 6 pages a day. That way I could keep laughing for over three weeks.

I read JvA's Ballard Street daily newspaper cartoon in the LA Times for years, but then moved to humorless Atlanta. This book was a godsend, and I hope JvA comes out with a new one every other month. I'll buy them all.

Just what I hoped for
I have his previous books and believe them to be unique and worth having in any personal library. This new book is exactly like the others. If you liked his Neighborhood books, you'll like this one. Its more of the same, which is exactly what I was looking for.

Jerry Van Amerongen is an Original Comic Genius
In my humble opinion, Jerry Van Amerongen is a comic genius. His "The Neighborhood" and "Ballard Street" panels take everyday phrases and/or situations and he turns them into absurdity when combined with his detailed, exaggerated drawings. During my day-to-day activities I am constantly reminded of his cartoons and I can't say that about any other cartoonist. Jerry (along with Gary Larson) completely changed the nature of the comics because before them the drawing was secondary to the humor of the panel or strip whereas they made the picture an integral part of it. Today, there are many comic panels that are of this type, but Ballard Street is still unique. My only criticism is that Jerry now focuses almost exclusively on dumpy old people in his panels, whereas in his old "The Neighborhood" panels he frequently used animals (particulary chickens which are really absurd creatures!) or inanimate objects which would seem to allow more creative possiblities. Anyway, enjoy!