Schulz and Peanuts: A Biography Review

Schulz's creation revolutionized and inspired cartoonists the world over.  And although many people associated Charlie Brown as Charles Schulz, this was not completely accurate.  David Michaelis has rectified this misconception in his massive new biography of Charles Schulz:  Schulz and Peanuts:  A Biography.  In writing this book, Michaelis was able to go through Schulz's papers and talk to many of the people who knew Schulz (nicknamed "Sparky" by an uncle while a child).  The biography is thorough and interesting, even though somewhat redundant in places. 

There are a couple of problems with the biography, not really of Michaelis's doing.  Since so much of Schulz's life was revealed in the strip, it is hard to write about his life when one can just read the comic strip.  In fact, many of Michaelis's points are often illustrated by an appropriate Peanuts comic.  Secondly, with Schulz devoting so much of his life to the strip, he didn't necessarily have a full life outside the strip.  This was compounded by his upbringing in which his Norwegian and German heritages taught him to keep his feelings bottled up inside and present a placid demeanor to the world.  Of course, this is the stereotype of what it means to be a man.  Lastly, Schulz wasn't particularly reflective about himself.  These issues combine to make telling Schulz's story difficult.

Schulz didn't feel like he was loved.  This went back to his childhood and early adulthood.  The death of his mother from cancer when he was a young adult devastated him.  She has suffered for many years, but he was never told what was wrong until near the end.  His father, a barber, although loving him, remained at a distance.  From him, Schulz did gain his work ethic.

After serving in the military in World War II, Schulz returned to Minnesota and continued his studies in art and cartooning.  His ambition was to become a daily comic strip artist.  It proved to be a difficult struggle.  However, he did finally succeed, and in fact, became the most successful cartoonist of all time.

Michaelis's book thoroughly recounts Schulz's ups and downs.  For a man as successful as Schulz, his constant depression, unhappiness and despair do come across as sad.  His happiness was always fleeting and he needed constant encouragement and attention.

This book is well-written and provides a full, fascinating portrait of Schulz.  I'm only sorry the Schulz didn't have a happier life.  In fact, when once asked why he didn't go to therapy, he stated he was afraid therapy would destroy his ability to write and draw Peanuts.  For anyone interested in the life of a cartoonist, and especially Peanuts, I easily recommend this book.  Also, should one be interested in the strip itself, Fantagraphics is republishing all of the Peanuts strips in order in two-year collections semiannually.  To date, they have published 8 volumes covering Peanuts from 1950-1966.