Book Review: Pearls Gets Sacrificed

Stephan Pastis, Pearls Gets Sacrificed: a Pearls Before Swine Treasury. Kansas City, MO: Andrews McMeel Publishing, 2015. ISBN: 9781449458294.

 

Genre: comics and graphic novels

Subgenre: humor

Format: large trade paperback

Source: Berea branch, Madison County (KY) Public Library 

 

This 2015 treasury of Pearls Before Swine has a bit over 240 pages of strips. The strips are mostly in black and white, but the volume also includes larger Sunday strips in color. 

 

The humor overall is good, but it can be a bit inconsistent. When it is good, it is really good and funny. When it is not, it can fall a bit flat. There are times when the author stretches a joke a bit too far. One example of stretching the joke too far was the series about Zebra's bad vacation on a small isolated island. The author stretched that way more than he should have. In addition, the author is known for doing puns, and again, some are good, some are not. 

Having said that, the majority of the comics are good. I do enjoy the contrast between innocent Pig, cynical Rat, and wise Goat. Some of my favorites in this collection include: Humpty Dumpty suing for damages after his fall, Rat pointing out about political bribery (whoops, corporate campaign contributions), Goat at the bookstore (which could also apply to libraries), Pig's doctor appointment (oh so true), and on Anthony Bourdain as a hero. 

Overall, I really like this volume. I enjoy the humor that goes swiftly from silly to cynical and back to silly. It does feature some good observations about life as well. This is a good selection for libraries with comics and graphic novel collections. 

4 out of 5 stars.