Schulz and Peanuts

I finished this book about a week ago, a biography on Charles Schulz, creator of the most popular comic strip of the last 50 years. It's a big, in depth, virtuoso of a book, that looks at his life, particularly the psychology of the man.

I discovered the book by reading a review in the NYT.

Bill Watterson, of Calvin & Hobbes fame, has a positive review in the WSJ.

John Updike admired the book in the prestigious New Yorker, and called the strip, "at bottom tragic."

Finally, the family of Charles Shulz weighs in, decrying the book as getting it wrong. After giving the author access to the family, papers, notes; and the book being sanctioned by Shulz's immediate family, they are upset at his portrayal as being morose, and less than a loving father.

I'll say simply, that it's a good book worth reading. I believe the author does an admirable job of telling the story of a complex life within the confines of 600 pages.