Schulz And Peanuts: A Biography
David Michaelis
Harper, $34.95

Dear Charlie Brown: When I picked up this new book on Charles Schulz (Sparky) and the Peanuts gang, my immediate reaction was, what took so long? Given the iconic status that you enjoy in comicdom, I thought that by now somebody would have tried to figure out what the fuss was all about —and still is.

Well, David Michaelis was given unfettered access to Sparky’s papers by his family — that is, all the drawings, storylines and correspondence. He supplemented this treasure trove by hunting out everything connected to Sparky across the US. He mined the memories of the Schulz family and spoke to an astonishingly diverse cross-section of people — some of them unknown to Sparky until he sat down and started talking to them. And there lies the rub.

Sparky’s family has publicly come out against the portrait that Michaelis has created of him. They say they are unable to recognise the uncertain, depressed man as the humorous, livewire they knew. But Charlie, having gone through this book, I am forced to say that Michaelis has probably got it right. The good-humoured Sparky had a sad man inside him. The Schulz family got more than they had bargained for when they cooperated with Michaelis, but there is nothing to show that he has created a distorted version of Sparky’s life. Michaelis, knowing how touchy the subject would be, has handled it gently and dispassionately. The Schulz family should not be too upset at the revelation of Sparky’s sadness — it makes him more human, and shows his achievements to be even more awesome.

... contd.