Books: The Cheese Monkeys by Chip Kidd (2001)

"It’s the fall of 1957, long before computers have replaced the trained eye and skillful hand. Our narrator is at State U is determined to major in Art, and after several risible false starts, he ends up by accident in a new class called 'Introduction to Graphic Design.' Art 127 is taught by the enigmatic Winter Sorbeck, professor and guru (think Gary Cooper crossed with Darth Vader) -- 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, the sexual tango weaves and dips."

Chip Kidd has spent his career designing covers for books at Knolf and in 2001 he released his debut novel that is sometimes laugh out loud funny but very obviously a semi-autobiographical portrait of a brilliant designer as a young man. There is wit galore, often reminding me of the screwball comedies made by director Howard Hawks and stars Katherine Hepburn and Cary Grant. It’s off-beat, sometimes animated, but also gives us an awkward look into the tenets of graphic design, an often overlooked art course.

The book often reminded me of David Sedaris, with his dry and absurdist humor, Christopher Moore for the silliness, Richard Russo’s own college bound satire Straight Man, and Joe Keenan, who’s written three novels that would fit very well into the 1940s and 50s movie comedies this book emulates. It does not have the social commentary of Michael Chabon’s Wonder Boys, but The Cheese Monkeys clearly a cousin to that tome. 

The only issue I have with the book is that everything falls apart at the end. The book takes an odd left turn and never recovers. It ends somewhat abruptly and nothing is really resolved. Kidd released a sequel in 2008, so I’ll see how this tale is continued.

But for a good portion of the book, The Cheese Monkeys is a hilarious.