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The lonely ones
Book by Steig, William
- GenresArt
88 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1942
About the author
William Steig
139 books433 followersWilliam Steig was born in New York City in 1907. In a family where every member was involved in the arts, it was not surprising that Steig became an artist.
He published his first children's book, Roland the Minstrel Pig, in 1968, embarking on a new and very different career.
Steig's books reflect his conviction that children want the security of a devoted family and friends. When Sylvester, Farmer Palmer, Abel, Pearl, Gorky, Solomon, and Irene eventually get home, their families are all waiting, and beginning with Amos & Boris, friendship is celebrated in story after story.
http://us.macmillan.com/author/willia...
He published his first children's book, Roland the Minstrel Pig, in 1968, embarking on a new and very different career.
Steig's books reflect his conviction that children want the security of a devoted family and friends. When Sylvester, Farmer Palmer, Abel, Pearl, Gorky, Solomon, and Irene eventually get home, their families are all waiting, and beginning with Amos & Boris, friendship is celebrated in story after story.
http://us.macmillan.com/author/willia...
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
November 30, 2024
The dust jacket said these cartoons were sure to have me "laughing uproariously" but they were very odd and sad. Very profound too. I think I'll be pondering them for a bit.
May 15, 2020
Absolute brilliance.
Prior to this 1942 volume, Steig was mostly known for humorous cartoons about city children published in "The New Yorker." 1939's "About People" started him on the course toward "symbolic drawings." This one, though, took a new, determined direction towards abstraction in the service of truth telling and examining the psyche of man.
On the left page, opposite each drawing, is a caption, or, more accurately, a statement. This statement is coming from the mind, or the mouth, of the character we see to the right. He, or she, is the subject of some disease of the mind that keeps them outside the realm of normal, conformist, well-adjusted, lock-in-step society. They are the Lonely Ones.
We laugh at them (or with them), agree with them, sympathize with them, or join them. See their point of view, or snicker. These are not The Wacky Ones, the Goofy Ones, or the Shucks, Ain't They Peculiar Ones.
These are not cartoons. They are staggeringly insightful and brazenly depicted portraits in service of a story. A story as short as it takes you to read it or as long as they live in your brain.
As art goes, as cartooning...genius.
I started collecting the merchandise based on these pictures ever since I knew they existed (so, for the past 20-25 years), and I've got glassware, coffee cups, cocktail napkins, ashtrays, tiny plates and more. If they had t-shirts in the 40's & 50's, they would have made them, too. The first ashtray I ever found at an antique store, I gave to an ex-girlfriend for her birthday. It was "People Are No Damn Good." "Gee, that's a cheery statement", she said sarcastically. No, it's not, but do you want one on an ashtray? You're the one slowly killing yourself....and who doesn't have occasional anti-social thoughts about their fellow man? We just don't start living in boxes. It made me wonder what I ever saw in her.
Prior to this 1942 volume, Steig was mostly known for humorous cartoons about city children published in "The New Yorker." 1939's "About People" started him on the course toward "symbolic drawings." This one, though, took a new, determined direction towards abstraction in the service of truth telling and examining the psyche of man.
On the left page, opposite each drawing, is a caption, or, more accurately, a statement. This statement is coming from the mind, or the mouth, of the character we see to the right. He, or she, is the subject of some disease of the mind that keeps them outside the realm of normal, conformist, well-adjusted, lock-in-step society. They are the Lonely Ones.
We laugh at them (or with them), agree with them, sympathize with them, or join them. See their point of view, or snicker. These are not The Wacky Ones, the Goofy Ones, or the Shucks, Ain't They Peculiar Ones.
These are not cartoons. They are staggeringly insightful and brazenly depicted portraits in service of a story. A story as short as it takes you to read it or as long as they live in your brain.
As art goes, as cartooning...genius.
I started collecting the merchandise based on these pictures ever since I knew they existed (so, for the past 20-25 years), and I've got glassware, coffee cups, cocktail napkins, ashtrays, tiny plates and more. If they had t-shirts in the 40's & 50's, they would have made them, too. The first ashtray I ever found at an antique store, I gave to an ex-girlfriend for her birthday. It was "People Are No Damn Good." "Gee, that's a cheery statement", she said sarcastically. No, it's not, but do you want one on an ashtray? You're the one slowly killing yourself....and who doesn't have occasional anti-social thoughts about their fellow man? We just don't start living in boxes. It made me wonder what I ever saw in her.
January 30, 2021
I found this for 25 cents at the weird little Habitat For Humanity thrift store right next to my apartment. I got it on a whim, not really taking much in about it other than some of the drawings in it looked up my alley. It's a strangely profound and often sobering gallery of little figures drawn by Steig for The New Yorker in the '40s. How it came to cross my path I'll never know, but I am so glad I found it because there's no way I would have heard about it or sought it out on my own. I could go through this entire little portfolio of strange melancholy multiple times in a sitting, and I have before. I don't know that I've ever seen anything like it, and in a wide world of art that means a lot.
March 23, 2018
Dark stuff for an author known most for children's picture books.
October 25, 2024
Ordered it because Mo Willems mentioned it in his book I’m currently, Don’t Pigeonhole me! I’ve enjoyed Mr. Steig’s art and stories since I read, Dr. De Soto. The Lonely Ones is a precious little book.
March 19, 2008
Some of these drawings, along with their well-selected captions, are great. See, for instance, "MOTHER LOVED ME BUT SHE DIED" and "IF YOU ARE GOOD-NATURED, PEOPLE STEP ALL OVER YOU." My 1942 edition, unfortunately, is missing the "25 new Lonely Ones" apparently added to later editions. I'd love to see them.
January 28, 2014
Exquisite distillation of the torture of and desire to be human. (I looked for myself here and the effect was even greater because I wasn't.) I don't want anything more than hand-sized books with this many pages.
January 17, 2015
One line captions accompany Steig minimalist drawings. Some humorous, some insightful.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews