The Cheese Monkeys by Chip Kidd

In May or June, I think it was, of this year, I saw this book on the shelf at the Maplewood branch of the library. I was intrigued, but I didn't check the book out at that time because I had already checked out Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. Atlas Shrugged is over a thousand pages long and I've been meaning to read it for five years, ever since I read The Fountainhead and was blown away by it. It turned out that I gave up on Atlas Shrugged before I was even fifty pages into it because I was just too daunted by the task of a thousand page book, and I had been reading so many library books lately and worried about finishing them before they were due that I simply decided to quit reading library books for a little while and focus instead on books I own my own personal copy of. That was when I began reading Tom Robbins' Another Roadside Attraction and Stephen King's The Tommyknockers, both of which I found on my own bookshelf in the bathroom in my basement. But I digress.

For whatever reason, I thought of The Cheese Monkeys again and was able to find it on the shelf on a trip to Roseville. I don't know how I found it, since I didn't remember the title or the author. But I seem to remember vaguely that I had seen it in the K's at Maplewood, near the Garrison Keillor and Stephen King. Indeed I was right, and no doubt I was helped by the fact that The Cheese Monkeys is one of the most unique books I've ever read in my whole life, artistically. From a graphic design point of view, that is. You'll have to see it to understand what I'm talking about. Incredibly unique. "Whatever you do... Don't think of elephants." "Do you see? ... Good is dead." The book jacket and layout and design of the whole thing was completely captivating.

The novel itself was remarkable too. Bret Easton Ellis' review on the inside cover hit the nail on the head when it commented on the author's wonderful recreation of 1950's culture and slang. I can't say it any better than that. And Himillsy Dodd is one of the most intruiging characters I've ever read.

Graphic Design is cool. The typeface in this book was exquisite, and don't think the change from one tapeface to another upon the introduction of Winter Sorbeck was lost on me. That is one art class I would have killed to get into, even though I'd probably fail it the first day.

At any rate, I'm stumped. I can't describe this book from scratch. You'll just have to take my word for it that it is extraordinary. If you like art, or lettering, or graphic design, read The Cheese Monkeys. If you can find it.