You Can Never Die
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"Renowned New Yorker cartoonist Harry Bliss loved his sweet dog Penny, a joyful part of his life for 17 years. Every day that he cared for his beloved pet, Harry joked with her, talked to her, and drew the adorable creature--Penny's presence is unmistakably, hilariously incorporated into the iconic cartoons of his career. In one, he gazes up at the night sky, remarking on the vastness of outer space, while she digs into the ground, unbothered, fuzzy tail wagging in the air. Harry grew up in upstate New York to a family of artists, a rowdy and turbulent bunch, and attended art school in Philadelphia. A therapist once suggested that perhaps when he looked at Penny, he saw himself as a child, innocent and facing unanticipated heartbreak. As Harry must grieve Penny's loss, he reflects on his parents in their later years, his love for his wife and home, and the colorful artists, friends, and mentors who have shaped him. With humor and gut-wrenching honesty, You Can Never Die is an intimate portrayal of a man making sense of the beautiful and painful world around him. This singular memoir integrates sharply-crafted, witty stories with hundreds of gorgeous cartoons and never-seen-before sketches from Bliss' extraordinary career"--
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I was thrilled to receive Harry Bliss's graphic memoir You Can Never Die. This was a book that made me smile at the love, joy and wonder that Penny, the authors dog, brought too his life and I often found myself sitting back and reflecting on my own fur friends that have graced my life like Penny and Junior did his. But this book is more than just the story of Penny and Harry, although her presence in this book brings such life and wonder to both written text and cartoons, but this is also a journey of Harry becoming the person that he shares so humorously and honestly with the reader, a life that has had both bitter and sweet qualities. Bliss has a unique and insightful way of cutting right to the heart of life in these short, poignant, and insightful essays in the same way that his cartoons do. I have been clipping his work from The New Yorker's pages for years. With an eye for both the art of a moment, reproduced beautifully and in full color, he has an almost Zen like way of using brevity to make you reflect and consider an almost unstated argument. This book as a whole had me pondering the power of life to shape us and left me considering how we can also need to have a good laugh at ourselves, together this all reminds me that we have to grab life and live it -- for that is where we truly find the Love of Life.
This book is a beautiful marriage of art, argument, philosophy, and life story. Its is a celebration of the happy, the sad and all the messy chaotic fun that shows a life well lived and reflected on.
Thank you @celadonbooks for sharing this beautiful hardcover with me. This book spoke to me at such a deep level and I will admit I shed some sad tears at memories that are bittersweet, laughed at moments that were too adorable not to, and just enjoyed reading about the experiences, and people, that made Harry Bliss.
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