Schulz and Peanuts: A Biography

 I thought that 600+ pages were very unnecessary! Yes, I know that accomplishments such as winning the Reuben Award twice, having bestseller books, being the Grand Marshal in the Rose Parade, among many others aren’t things to sneeze at. But no biography needs to be that long!

   I found the stories of Charles Schulz’s childhood and as a young adult interesting and sad at the same time. No doubt it was embarrassing to have to get out of the chair with only half of a haircut just to cut the hair of an “important customer.” When it came to him being in high school, let’s just put it this way, if he and I went to high school together, I would’ve cared to talk to him and be his friend. (Unfortunately, we can’t choose what time period we want to be born in.) And of course, the double whammy of being drafted into the military while his mom was dying of cancer had to have felt like a bandage being ripped off!

   Reading on downward was when I started to find the author’s [David Michaelis] writing style to be gossipy and very rude! Not only were his descriptions of Joyce (Schulz’s first wife) very mean-spirited, but he dwells on and on over an affair Schulz had with a woman quite a bit younger than him. I think that part could’ve been cut out. Who really cares who Schulz did or didn’t sleep with???

   After discovering online that members of the Schulz family were NOT happy campers about this book, I began to wonder about what was true fact and what was possible exaggeration by the author. On page 489 (in the paperback edition), there’s a disturbing incident that I think Michaelis exaggerated. The reason why I said that is because according to other biographies that I’ve read on Schulz, it was said that he adored his children and always went out of his way to play games with and do things for them. I don’t think it’s at all true that he was an uncaring and unaffectionate father!

   I will admit that I didn’t finish the book because of how gossipy and rude Michaelis’s writing style really was. And that wasn’t the only reason. I didn’t want to read about Schulz dying. I didn’t want to rehash how I felt when I first found out that he died…crying like a baby and being told by my grandma, “You need to understand that Charles Schulz was an old man and ill! 77 years is up there on the age ladder!” So, I decided to just close the book and put it away.

   If you want to read a good biography on Charles Schulz, you should read his autobiographies Peanuts Jubilee and My Life with Charlie Brown. I also strongly recommend Sparky: The Life and Art of Charles Schulz by Beverly Gherman. Although I came across it in the teen section of the library, I found the author’s writing style to be very professional, not gossipy and rude!