All the Rage: The Boondocks Past and Present by Aaron McGruder
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Book Reviews of All the Rage: The Boondocks Past and Present
Book Review: Certainly NOT the last of Aaron McGruder!
Summary: 5 Stars
"All The Rage" is the Sunday morning newsmagazine for "The Boondocks". It isn't about an anthology of all of the strips, but it does highlight the strips that did -and DIDN'T- make the papers; strips that brought about a sense of discussion and (alleged; because like beauty, it's in the eye of the beholder) controversy. Interviews with McGruder (that weren't nationally published) and his commentary on particular strips that raised the hackles of readers and prompted editors to either banish him to editorial pages or the black hole of "yanked" only helped to prove the practiced narrowness of thinking when it benefits a small group (namely newspaper advertisers).
I would make a small change to one of the other reviewer's recommendation: start with "A Right To Be Hostile". There are a couple other collections after and before this one, but this is the best. Then, get "Birth of a Nation" (written by Reginald Hudlin and Aaron McGrude; illustrated by Kyle Baker). This is the screenplay that took too long to be "greenlighted" (an interesting story in itself). The idea of a state seceding from the nation is not new (uh...remember Texas and Juneteenth?), but what of a city...a poor city...a poor BLACK city? It's politicing at its grassroots best!
Book Review: All the Rage is a resounding success.
Summary: 5 Stars
All the Rage: The Boondocks Past and Present is more than just the latest collection of the politically charged, African-American culture-centric newspaper comic strip - it also gathers a massive assortment of interviews with comic creator, writer and cartoonist Aaron McGruder, and even prints some of the most controversial strips for the first time. Young, unsmiling radical leftist Huey gives his cynical take on everything from McDonald's ridiculous attempts to emulate hiphop culture to high-level political hypocrisy, while his gangsta-wannabe little brother Riley represents the aspect of modern rap culture that is blindly obsessed criminality: "Man, I'd never steal music off the internet... it's easier to just steal it from the store." No cow is too sacred in All the Rage; there are jabs galore for the more questionable aspects of black and white culture alike. The interviews reveal a passionate side to McGruder, embedded in his desire to do more than make his readers laugh; he also wants to make them think, and in that All the Rage is a resounding success. Highly recommended.Book Review: Very Entertaining
Summary: 5 Stars
I really enjoyed this book. I have purchased all of the author's books and regularly watch the Boondocks on television. I had his book with me while I was waiting in the emergency room with my young niece who had a stomach flu. I was laughing so hard at some of the jokes that I had to start reading out loud for my sister and my niece at their request. There was usually a brief discussion after some of the more controversial strips which helped to bridge the generation gap as well as provide a historical and cultural perspective. The author satisfies my appetite for humor while enlightening me on political and social issues of the day.Book Review: final installment
Summary: 5 Stars
This is the final installment of McGruder's Boondocks comic strip. It's a bit weaker than the other two large volumes, but still very strong. There were some strips from the first collections scattered throughout, and not necessarily in order. That threw me off here and there. There's a large section of articles and interviews which are quite interesting. And finally there is an anticlimatic "controversy" section. We've seen these before and McGruder adds nothing new. Still, even though this is a weaker collection than we've seen before, it's still worth reading.Book Review: Believe the hype!
Summary: 5 Stars
If you have never read a Boondocks book this is the perfect jumping on point. It has a lot of new strips that the first season of the hit show was based on and it also has a lot of the old strips that started the controversy. I love that McGruder isn't afraid to call out our "Leadership" in Washington and voicing his opinion. He will make you think about several issues from racism, the war on "Terror", G.W. Bush, and so many more!! Great read and it has some interviews with McGruder that offer some some insight into his state of mind. Definite Buy!!!