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The Art of Rube Goldberg: (A) Inventive (B) Cartoon (C) Genius
Not many of us make it into the dictionary as an adjective. But then again, Rube Goldberg was no ordinary noun. He was a cartoonist, humorist, sculptor, author, engineer, and inventor, and in a 72-year career he wrote and illustrated nearly 50,000 cartoons. Goldberg (1883–1970) was the most famous cartoonist of his time, best known for his comical inventions, which were syndicated in daily newspapers throughout the world. Author Jennifer George celebrates all aspects of her grandfather’s career, from his very first published drawings in his high school newspaper and college yearbook to his iconic inventions, his comic strips and advertising work, and his later sculpture and Pulitzer Prize–winning political cartoons. Also included are essays by noted comics historians, rare photographs, letters, memorabilia, and patents, many reproduced here for the first time. Brilliantly designed and packaged to capture the inventiveness of Rube Goldberg’s work, The Art of Rube Goldberg is a coffee table book the whole family can enjoy.
From Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary:
Rube Gold·berg. adjective \rüb-ˈgōl(d)-ˌbərg\: accomplishing by complex means
what seemingly could be done simply ; also: characterized by such complex means. also: Rube Gold·berg·i·an
“Goldberg’s cartoons touch the edge of modern art.”
—Adam Gopnik, from his introduction
From Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary:
Rube Gold·berg. adjective \rüb-ˈgōl(d)-ˌbərg\: accomplishing by complex means
what seemingly could be done simply ; also: characterized by such complex means. also: Rube Gold·berg·i·an
“Goldberg’s cartoons touch the edge of modern art.”
—Adam Gopnik, from his introduction
192 pages, Hardcover
First published November 12, 2013
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
January 2, 2014
First Reads Review - The Art of Rube Goldberg by Jennifer George
I'm not really sure what I was expecting when I signed up to win this book, but it wasn't the enormous and inventively cool book that arrived at the house. This is a striking book, at least from an engineering standpoint, and if the point was just to have it stuck on a coffee table or otherwise to delight people with the moving paper contraption that makes up the cover, this book would be an absolute success. Unfortunately, the book is more than its cover, and while the interior is filled with some interesting information and a few anecdotes, the end result is a bit disorganized and lacking a real feel of the artist and man Rube Goldberg. To me, at least.
It's not that the writing or the art is bad. Indeed, the art is charming and captures a lot of what made the man a national figure. Shown are samples from all of his major runs, from the I'm the Man to the Foolish Questions to Boob McNut and all the rest. But the organization of the book leaves much to be desired, because it doesn't really move chronologically through his life, and doesn't separate things out based on what kinds of art he was doing at the time. Instead it sort of jumps back and forth over his entire life in each section, which makes the whole piece something of a strange monster.
It became a little hard to get a feel for the man, for me, to have to start over at each new section. If this had been a book that I did keep out, that I only read one section one day, then a few weeks later picked it up again and read a new section, then I might have liked it more. There are good stories, and interesting commentaries on the importance of Goldberg's work and legacy. But reading it all the way through, as I did, was not the same experience. It came off as disjointed, as lacking a clear narrative to take it all the way through. It was fine and fun to see the art, and I learned some things about the time, about cartooning, and mostly about Rube Goldberg himself.
So really this is a book that was probably designed to be read in a way other than how I did it. And again, it's an interesting work. The art is amazing, the devices clever and the cover a treat. For something like this, though, it depends on organization to help create a narrative more than just a selection of works. I wanted more, more direction, and that is sadly not quite there. Still, it is an attractive book, something I'd be proud to display. It's fun and the production quality is top notch. Still, this is, to me, three stars out of five.
I'm not really sure what I was expecting when I signed up to win this book, but it wasn't the enormous and inventively cool book that arrived at the house. This is a striking book, at least from an engineering standpoint, and if the point was just to have it stuck on a coffee table or otherwise to delight people with the moving paper contraption that makes up the cover, this book would be an absolute success. Unfortunately, the book is more than its cover, and while the interior is filled with some interesting information and a few anecdotes, the end result is a bit disorganized and lacking a real feel of the artist and man Rube Goldberg. To me, at least.
It's not that the writing or the art is bad. Indeed, the art is charming and captures a lot of what made the man a national figure. Shown are samples from all of his major runs, from the I'm the Man to the Foolish Questions to Boob McNut and all the rest. But the organization of the book leaves much to be desired, because it doesn't really move chronologically through his life, and doesn't separate things out based on what kinds of art he was doing at the time. Instead it sort of jumps back and forth over his entire life in each section, which makes the whole piece something of a strange monster.
It became a little hard to get a feel for the man, for me, to have to start over at each new section. If this had been a book that I did keep out, that I only read one section one day, then a few weeks later picked it up again and read a new section, then I might have liked it more. There are good stories, and interesting commentaries on the importance of Goldberg's work and legacy. But reading it all the way through, as I did, was not the same experience. It came off as disjointed, as lacking a clear narrative to take it all the way through. It was fine and fun to see the art, and I learned some things about the time, about cartooning, and mostly about Rube Goldberg himself.
So really this is a book that was probably designed to be read in a way other than how I did it. And again, it's an interesting work. The art is amazing, the devices clever and the cover a treat. For something like this, though, it depends on organization to help create a narrative more than just a selection of works. I wanted more, more direction, and that is sadly not quite there. Still, it is an attractive book, something I'd be proud to display. It's fun and the production quality is top notch. Still, this is, to me, three stars out of five.
January 13, 2022
An.... interesting book to say the least.
I was familiar with Rubes engineering ideas and comics but did not know the author made so many more works, sculptures and more. In that way the book was quite enlightening.
On the other hand it suffered from two major issues. The first is the format - I got the digital version from Humble Bundle and even reading on a 12'' tablet in landscape mode I constantly had to zoom in and out to se details on some comics. Some pages feel a bit cluttered and could do with one image less this enlarging the others. The second is the fact that the whole book feels a bit disjointed - there is no clear story line over the chapters and by the end of the book I got the impression that I should have treated each chapter as a separate book.
I was familiar with Rubes engineering ideas and comics but did not know the author made so many more works, sculptures and more. In that way the book was quite enlightening.
On the other hand it suffered from two major issues. The first is the format - I got the digital version from Humble Bundle and even reading on a 12'' tablet in landscape mode I constantly had to zoom in and out to se details on some comics. Some pages feel a bit cluttered and could do with one image less this enlarging the others. The second is the fact that the whole book feels a bit disjointed - there is no clear story line over the chapters and by the end of the book I got the impression that I should have treated each chapter as a separate book.
November 5, 2017
THE ART OF RUBE GOLDBERG is an excellent collection of Goldberg's works--from comics to sculpture to advertising--as well as drawings and photographs from the family's unpublished archives. I wanted more from this book, though. Because it was put together by Goldberg's granddaughter, I was expecting to learn more about Goldberg as a person rather than re-reading much of the same information that has been published elsewhere.
This is a great book for anyone interested in learning about Goldberg broadly, but it certainly is not a strong publication for any sort of scholarly research.
This is a great book for anyone interested in learning about Goldberg broadly, but it certainly is not a strong publication for any sort of scholarly research.
February 4, 2018
The man was a freakin’ genius.
“Where am I supposed to spend my evenings? In the hallway on the hat rack?!”
“Where am I supposed to spend my evenings? In the hallway on the hat rack?!”
November 14, 2021
I had no clue that Rube Goldberg had such huge body of work. He's known for his machine comics, but he produced a huge amount of comicss on a wide variety of subjects. The book is a lavishly illustrated collection of essays on his life and work. I read it on a Fire tablet and was disappointed that the quality on some of the material was poor and almost impossible to read (the problem could be in the available source material and not with the scans). Sadly his official website doesn't seem to contain an archive of his work. It would be great if GoComics or a similar site would get his work back out there.
December 24, 2014
Lovely book! The moving version of a Goldberg cartoon on the front cover is a paper engineering marvel. I also like how you can peek behind the flap inside the front cover to see the inner workings in action. This book is an impressive overview of Goldberg's career. Obviously there was more to him than whimsical inventions. The book touches on all of the strips he created over the years, as well as his forays into writing and movie making. A fascinating look at a fascinating man.
August 11, 2015
It was very entertaining. The art was interesting and a good read.
May 9, 2014
I loved this comprehensive look at the work of Rube Goldberg. I had no idea he was so prolific a cartoonist.
November 21, 2013
This was a free book from a Goodreads giveaway. It was an ok book on the life and cartoons of Rube Goldberg. Lots of comics/cartoons are included in the book.
March 3, 2020
Great book about a cartoonist who changed the world
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews