Kirkus Reviews, founded in 1933, is a venerable institution in the media world, serving as the industry bible for bookstore buyers, librarians, and ordinary readers alike for more than 75 years. As part of the Kirkus Book Bloggers Network, a rotating crew of your favorite Popdose writers will grace the virtual pages of Kirkus Reviews Online, taking on the best — and sometimes the worst — in pop-culture and celebrity books. From coffee-table studies to quickie unauthorized bios, if it’s about show biz, it’s fair game.

Fantagraphics Books rolls on with their hardcover library collection The Complete Peanuts, with the latest installment spotlighting 1979 and 1980. Charlie Brown and I go way back, and the longer I live, the more I realize Charlie Brown was not a put-upon child, but a middle-aged man. Furthermore, Charlie Brown is me.

The evidence: bald? Yes, we have no follicles. How about an irrational attraction to redheads? Check. Do I talk to dogs, and do they talk back to me? Yes and no; dogs do not talk, you silly person.

More than anything, my self-esteem could be characterized as shockingly poor, which is surely the epidemic of modern life. Even those of us who are doing well feel completely inadequate, and if we don’t, we’re frighteningly stupid and ought to feel inadequate.

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About the Author

Dw. Dunphy

Dw. Dunphy is a writer, artist, and musician. For Popdose he has contributed many articles that can be found in the site's archives. He also writes for New Jersey Stage, Musictap.net, Ultimate Classic Rock, and Diffuser FM. His music can be found at http://dwdunphy.bandcamp.com/.

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