Charles Addams: A Cartoonist's Life

The Addams Family is creepy and kooky, but wait till you see what their creator had in his apartment.

In Charles Addams: A Cartoonist's Life, meet the legendary cartoonist behind the altogether ooky Addams Family in this first biography, written with exclusive access to Charles Addams's private archives.

Take a front-row seat to the widespread rumours and storytelling genius behind one of America's oddest and most iconic creators. Even as The Addams Family grew in fame, the life of Charles Addams remained shrouded in mystery. Did he really sleep in a coffin and drink martinis garnished with eyeballs? In reality, Addams himself was charismatic and spellbinding as the characters he created. Discover the real stories behind Addams's most famous, and most private drawings, including the cartoon that offended the Nazis. From his dazzling love for sports cars and beautiful women - Jackie Kennedy and Joan Fontaine among them - to the darkest relationship of his life, this witty book reveals Addams's life as never before.

With rare family photographs, previously published cartoons, and private drawings seen here for the first time, Linda H. Davis provides a fascinating journey into the life of a beloved American icon.

“"Linda Davis has dug deep in her fabulous biography of The New Yorker 's most mysterious and spooky (and all-together ooky) artist. The book's a scream." --Michael Maslin "A person's charm is difficult for a writer to convey on the printed page, but Linda Davis has managed it. At the close, I found myself feeling terribly cheated that I hadn't had the pleasure of Charlie Addams's company." --Edward Sorel, The New York Observer "If you don't appreciate martinis with eyeballs in them, this is not the book for you. For the rest of us, here is an irresistible riot of a read, an exhilarating, expertly mixed cocktail of words and images. Charles Addams's life was crowded with women--famous women, smart women, witty women, garden-variety, drop-dead beautiful women--but in Linda Davis he has truly met his match." --Stacy Schiff, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of V”

"Linda Davis has dug deep in her fabulous biography of The New Yorker's most mysterious and spooky (and all-together ooky) artist. The book's a scream." —Michael Maslin

"A person's charm is difficult for a writer to convey on the printed page, but Linda Davis has managed it. At the close, I found myself feeling terribly cheated that I hadn't had the pleasure of Charlie Addams's company." —Edward Sorel, The New York Observer

"If you don't appreciate martinis with eyeballs in them, this is not the book for you. For the rest of us, here is an irresistible riot of a read, an exhilarating, expertly mixed cocktail of words and images. Charles Addams's life was crowded with women—famous women, smart women, witty women, garden-variety, drop-dead beautiful women—but in Linda Davis he has truly met his match." —Stacy Schiff, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Véra

"Chas Addams remains a commanding presence as one of the iconic artists who contributed to shaping that unique satirical art form—the New Yorker cartoon. He was also the only New Yorker artist who, because of his brilliant and unorthodox originality, was the object of widespread and thoroughly misplaced fascination about his mental stability. Linda Davis has delved into his work and the brain, hand, and raucous life that shaped it, offering a complex, entertaining and completely riveting portrait of a gentle, loving man, and his passionate and engaged embrace of life." —Ed Koren, author and political cartoonist for The New Yorker

Linda H. Davis is the author of three biographies: "Charles Addams: A Cartoonist's Life" (Random House, 2006), "Badge of Courage: The Life of Stephen Crane" (Houghton Mifflin, 1998), and "Onward and Upward: A Biography of Katharine S. White" (Harper & Row, 1987). Her e-book, "Autism on the Farm: A Story of Triumph, Possibility, and a Place Called Bittersweet," was published by The Miniver Press. She was born in Portland, Oregon in 1953, but has lived in Massachusetts most of her life. Married to Chuck Yanikoski, she is the mother of two, the mother-in-law of one, and the grandmother of three. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times, the Washington Post, CNN.com, Granta, The New Yorker, and other publications. "Charles Addams: A Cartoonist's Life" will be rereleased, with a new introduction by the author, by Turner Publishing in October, 2021.

The Addams Family is creepy and kooky, but wait till you see what their creator had in his apartment. In Charles Addams: A Cartoonist's Life , meet the legendary cartoonist behind the altogether ooky Addams Family in this first biography, written with exclusive access to Charles Addams's private archives. Take a front-row seat to the widespread rumours and storytelling genius behind one of America's oddest and most iconic creators. Even as The Addams Family grew in fame, the life of Charles Addams remained shrouded in mystery. Did he really sleep in a coffin and drink martinis garnished with eyeballs? In reality, Addams himself was charismatic and spellbinding as the characters he created. Discover the real stories behind Addams's most famous, and most private drawings, including the cartoon that offended the Nazis. From his dazzling love for sports cars and beautiful women -- Jackie Kennedy and Joan Fontaine among them -- to the darkest relationship of his life, this witty book reveals Addams's life as never before. With rare family photographs, previously published cartoons, and private drawings seen here for the first time, Linda H. Davis provides a fascinating journey into the life of a beloved American icon.

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