What do you think?
Rate this book
Harry, the Fat Bear Spy
Harry, spy for Bearmania, is dispatched to the National Macaroon Factory to find out why all the macaroons are coming out a disgusting shade of green.
120 pages, Library Binding
First published January 1, 1973
15 people want to read
About the author
Gahan Wilson
283 books49 followersGahan Wilson was an American author, cartoonist and illustrator known for his cartoons depicting horror-fantasy situations.
Wilson's cartoons and illustrations are drawn in a playfully grotesque style, and have a dark humor that is often compared to the work of The New Yorker cartoonist and Addams Family creator Charles Addams. But while both men sometimes feature vampires, graveyards and other traditional horror elements in their work, Addams's cartoons tended to be more gothic, reserved and old-fashioned, while Wilson's work is more contemporary, gross, and confrontational, featuring atomic mutants, subway monsters, and serial killers. It could be argued that Addams's work was probably meant to be funny without a lot of satirical intent, while Wilson often has a very specific point to make.
His cartoons and prose fiction have appeared regularly in Playboy, Collier's Weekly, The New Yorker and The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. For the last he also wrote some movie and book reviews. He has been a movie review columnist for The Twilight Zone Magazine and a book critic for Realms of Fantasy magazine.
His comic strip Nuts, which appeared in National Lampoon, was a reaction against what he saw as the saccharine view of childhood in strips like Peanuts. His hero The Kid sees the world as a dark, dangerous and unfair place, but just occasionally a fun one too.
Wilson also wrote and illustrated a short story for Harlan Ellison's anthology Again, Dangerous Visions. The "title" is a black blob, and the story is about an ominous black blob that appears on the page, growing at an alarming rate, until... He has contributed short stories to other publications as well; "M1" and "The Zombie Butler" both appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction and were reprinted in Gahan Wilson's Cracked Cosmos.
Additionally, Gahan Wilson created a computer game titled Gahan Wilson's The Ultimate Haunted House, in conjunction with Byron Preiss. The goal is to collect 13 keys in 13 hours from the 13 rooms of a house, by interacting in various ways with characters (such as a two-headed monster, a mad scientist, and a vampiress), objects, and the house itself.
He received the World Fantasy Convention Award in 1981, and the National Cartoonist Society's Milton Caniff Lifetime Achievement Award in 2005.
Gahan Wilson is the subject of a feature length documentary film, Gahan Wilson: Born Dead, Still Weird, directed by Steven-Charles Jaffe.
Wilson's cartoons and illustrations are drawn in a playfully grotesque style, and have a dark humor that is often compared to the work of The New Yorker cartoonist and Addams Family creator Charles Addams. But while both men sometimes feature vampires, graveyards and other traditional horror elements in their work, Addams's cartoons tended to be more gothic, reserved and old-fashioned, while Wilson's work is more contemporary, gross, and confrontational, featuring atomic mutants, subway monsters, and serial killers. It could be argued that Addams's work was probably meant to be funny without a lot of satirical intent, while Wilson often has a very specific point to make.
His cartoons and prose fiction have appeared regularly in Playboy, Collier's Weekly, The New Yorker and The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. For the last he also wrote some movie and book reviews. He has been a movie review columnist for The Twilight Zone Magazine and a book critic for Realms of Fantasy magazine.
His comic strip Nuts, which appeared in National Lampoon, was a reaction against what he saw as the saccharine view of childhood in strips like Peanuts. His hero The Kid sees the world as a dark, dangerous and unfair place, but just occasionally a fun one too.
Wilson also wrote and illustrated a short story for Harlan Ellison's anthology Again, Dangerous Visions. The "title" is a black blob, and the story is about an ominous black blob that appears on the page, growing at an alarming rate, until... He has contributed short stories to other publications as well; "M1" and "The Zombie Butler" both appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction and were reprinted in Gahan Wilson's Cracked Cosmos.
Additionally, Gahan Wilson created a computer game titled Gahan Wilson's The Ultimate Haunted House, in conjunction with Byron Preiss. The goal is to collect 13 keys in 13 hours from the 13 rooms of a house, by interacting in various ways with characters (such as a two-headed monster, a mad scientist, and a vampiress), objects, and the house itself.
He received the World Fantasy Convention Award in 1981, and the National Cartoonist Society's Milton Caniff Lifetime Achievement Award in 2005.
Gahan Wilson is the subject of a feature length documentary film, Gahan Wilson: Born Dead, Still Weird, directed by Steven-Charles Jaffe.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
July 22, 2020
I took this book when it was thrown away by the library of the church I went to growing up. It is as strange as I remember it being. My favorite thing is still the furrowed brow of Harry's spy colleague Fred in the illustrations.
September 20, 2017
This was in my personal library when I was a kid, and it's still on my shelf. Harry the Fat Bear Spy is on the case in Bearmania, trying to figure out why the macaroons are coming out green and who is behind this terrible scandal. Loved it as a kid and have reread it a few times over the years.
July 15, 2013
A good young adult book involving Harry, a spy in the service of Bearmania. I first viewed the animated adaptation of this book on the 1980s TV series, CBS Storybreak. It wasn't until later that I found a copy of this in the Madison branch of the Rockingham County Public Library sometime after.
When the macaroons of Bearmania are turning a sickly shade of green, our titular hero is on the case. Can he and his partner Fred track down the cause of this debacle and save Bearmania's macaroons?
It's quite an adventurous read, much like a juvenile version of James Bond and is dotted throughout with Gahan Wilson's distinguishing illustrations. Too bad it's out-of-print; this is a book worth tracking down.
When the macaroons of Bearmania are turning a sickly shade of green, our titular hero is on the case. Can he and his partner Fred track down the cause of this debacle and save Bearmania's macaroons?
It's quite an adventurous read, much like a juvenile version of James Bond and is dotted throughout with Gahan Wilson's distinguishing illustrations. Too bad it's out-of-print; this is a book worth tracking down.
Read
March 9, 2009One of the first books I remember reading.
July 31, 2012
Loved it. One of the first books I remember reading over and over. There was a second one in this series but I can't remember it. I guess this explains my later love for all things James Bond 007.
April 26, 2013
I'm going to have to try a macaroon to see what all the fuss is about.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews