“The Cheese Monkeys” by Chip Kidd is honestly one of my most favorite novels, ever. I can’t even remember how many times I have re-read it. When I finished it the first time, I was left speechless, and near tears. It’s safe to say that this novel vastly furthered my inspiration to start writing more fluently, to create fascinating, captivating characters that you yourself would be intimidated by and/or fall for. It also taught me a lot about all kinds of art, and the aesthetic beauty/complex message behind a lot of it. I love everything about this book, the story, the characters, the humor, the intellect, the assignments. ahhh. I highly recommend it to anyone and everyone.
This summary/review pretty much sums it up:
“A hilarious debut novel that could only be described as a portrait of the designer as a young man. ‘Show me something I’ve never seen before and will never be able to forget - if you can do that, you can do anything.’ It’s 1957, long before computers have replaced the trained eye and skilful hand. Our narrator at State University is determined to major in Art, and after several risible false starts, he accidentally ends up in a new class: ‘Introduction to Graphic Design’. His teacher is the enigmatic Winter Sorbeck, equal parts genius, seducer and sadist. Sorbeck is a bitter yet fascinating man whose assignments hurl his charges through a gauntlet of humiliation and heartache, shame and triumph, ego-bashing and enlightenment. Along the way, friendships are made and undone, jealousies simmer, and the sexual tango weaves and dips. By the end of their ‘Introduction to Graphic Design’, Sorbeck’s students will never see the world in the same way again. And, with Chip Kidd’s insights into the secrets of graphic design, neither will you.”
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Thanks for the submission! I haven’t read this before, but the immediate perceivable depth of the characters makes me want to pick it up really soon!
