Al Jaffee's Mad Life: A Biography

Mary-Lou Weisman, Al Jaffee

HarperCollins, 2010

Agent: Sandra Dijkstra

“One of the great cartoonists of our time.” –New Yorker cartoonist Arnold Roth 

The remarkable story of one of America’s most prolific and beloved cartoonists, Al Jaffee, with dozens of original color illustrations. Jaffe’s career in cartooning stretches back to 1941—with early humor pieces for Timely Comics, a precursor to Marvel Comics—but the iconic artist remains best known for the brilliant Fold-In cartoons he invented at Bill Gaines’s Mad magazine in 1964. The cerebral and sardonic illustrations have inspired generations of Mad readers—including Stephen Colbert, R. Crumb, Gary Larson and Charles Shultz—to embrace a firm and healthy irreverence towards the status quo. New York Times columnist and bestselling author Mary-Lou Weisman (My Middle-Aged Baby Book) helps Jaffe tell his remarkable story.

Reviews:
“…a collaboration that should cheer anyone with a secret affinity for Mad magazine.”
New York Times Book Review
 

“A loving and affecting biography of a deeply scarred man who made all readers of MAD magazine roar with laughter.”
Shelf Awareness