What an unbelievable book! This is a dream come true for fans of The Far Side! In it, you will witness: 1. Gary Larson's strange childhood. 2. Nature's Way, a sort of early version of The Far Side that appeared in The Seattle Times. 3. Gary Larson's creative process, which is very creative indeed! 4. A sketchbook of drawings and ideas that never made it past the initial stage, including some that would definitely have been winners. 5. Background stories on certain panels and random ideas. 6. Mistakes that either Gary or the newspaper editors made. Some of these are unbelieveable! Prepare to bust a gut! 7. Subtleties which make him wonder why he did certain things. Things he wished he wouldn't have done and things he wished he would have done. 8. Public responses to some of his more controversial and/or confusing panels. This features a very cool reply to all of his critics. 9. Rejected cartoons; the weirdest of the weird and the grossest of the gross. Some were obviously not going to be printed and some will make you wonder why they weren't. The times are definitely a-changin'! 10. The Exibit: some of Gary's personal favorites. Interesting choices. As I stated earlier, this is an ABSOLUTE MUST OWN for anyone who is a fan or can appreciate a little weirdness now and then. Your Far Side collection is not even close to being complete if you don't buy this book!

This is not just another Far Side gallery--although I like those, because I'm a fan of the strip. In this book, Larson delves into the creative process of creating comic strips, and the book includes early drafts of several particular published works. He also shows us some unpublished works, as well as the modifications he made in order to get certain ones published. My favorite sections are the chapter on "rejected cartoons"--which contains some very funny panels that were deemed too inappropriate to be published--and the chapter on "Public Response"--which details the more controversial of his cartoons, some (but not all) of which are actually funny. What I liked most about this book was that it gave us a glimpse of Larson's mind. It is fun to see him discuss his works in intellectual and artistic terms. I like the fact that even a cartoonist takes his work seriously. I should also add that the book does contain a long section constituting a gallery, but this time it is all Larson's choices of his own favorites. He comments: "I contemplated making this last section a collection of what I consider the *lousiest* cartoons I've ever drawn, but space was limited."

"The Prehistory of the Far Side: A Tenth Anniversary Exhibit," by Gary Larson, is a slightly different volume in the "Far Side" book series. This book collects Larson's cartoons, but there's more: according to the foreword, the purpose of the book is "to reveal some of the background, anecdotes, foibles, and 'behind-the-scenes' experiences related to this cartoon panel." Part of the book's fun is figuring out what parts of this "behind-the-scenes" material are for real and what parts are just further jokes on Larson's part.

Material in the book includes Larson's childhood drawings; early, rough versions of some of his cartoons, along with the versions ultimately used; stories of the personal experiences behind certain panels; and more. One hilarious section records an editor's mistaken switch of a "Far Side" caption with a "Dennis the Menace" caption (Dennis has never been more menacing). And there's much more.

And of course, there's a straightforward gallery of some of Larson's twisted cartoons. Among the sights the reader will encounter are dog hell; the Secret Chipmunk Burial Grounds; a screening of an amoeba porn flick; and an encounter with the sinister Professor DeArmond -- "the epitome of evil amongst butterfly collectors!".

Larson's "Far Side" cartooons are a unique blend of satire, horror, science fiction, and surreal hilarity. If you're a fan, don't miss this collection.

Gary Larson in this includes some great ones like theres a dog with like 50 people following him he says, "I can't smell a damn thing." Plus there's a foreward by king of comedy from mrs. Doughtfire Robin Williams. Here's somhing he says in it. "I really like the way he draws humans. Maybe someday scientists will dig up his cartoons and think that the 20ith century man has a rarely big nose and buck teeth."

If you are a fan of The Far Side this book sells itself!!!![....]

Every one of Gary Larson's books has been a work of twisted genius, and "The Far Side Gallery 4" continues that tradition. A collection of hundreds of Larson's distinctive cartoons, this book will sometimes shock, sometimes mystify, but always amuse.

Larson's overall vision is a bizarre, yet oddly coherent blend of fantasy, science fiction, horror, theological speculation, anthropological/zoological observation, and cultural criticism, all distilled through the mind of a master parodist. His trademark technique--the anthropomorphization of the unexpected--is on abundant display in "Gallery 4." Larson's is a world in which squirrels read newspapers, alien juvenile delinquents abuse human astronauts, tapeworms go on vacation, bowling pins hold cocktail parties, and buzzards give poetry readings.

Larson will take on the most taboo subject in order to get a laugh, and he usually succeeds--often brilliantly. Trichinosis, obesity, conjoined twins, suicide, political protest, Native American culture, cryogenics, suffocation, old age, serial killers--nothing is off limits in "Gallery 4." Larson even makes fun of his own cartoon series.

Another of the pleasures of reading "The Far Side Gallery 4" is the fact that you never know who you'll run into next. Larson's deranged imagination captures a whole host of fictional and historical figures: Albert Einstein, Humpty Dumpty, Tito Puente, Dr. Jekyll, Stephen King, and many, many more. When the floating head of Zsa Zsa Gabor threatens the crew of the starship "Enterprise," you know you're in Larson territory.

The short foreword by Robin Williams (he describes Larson's vision as "a National Geographic special on Prozac") is an added bonus to this collection. For fans of "The Far Side," this is an indispensable collection; for those who haven't yet sampled the insane genius of Gary Larson, this is a great introduction.

With the classic bear not wanting to be shot pointing at his friend seen through a rifle's telescopic lens cartoon on the front cover you know that you're in for a treat.

Beyond the Far Side contains some of the all time classics such as Superman checking for change in the coin slot of a phone booth while getting changed, "Say what's a mountain goat doing way up here in a cloud bank?" seen through the cockpit window of a plane and the classic smoking dinosaurs picture with the caption "the real reason dinosaurs became extinct."

Once you have one Far Side cartoon you have to own them all. The only way you can do that is to buy every single one of these Far Side books. This isn't a bad one to start off with.

Tip it may be cheaper to buy The Far Side Galleries which are three of these books put together so compare prices.

Most cartoons may come across as a bit dumb, but not the Far Side. If you like to think and laugh at the same time and are sick of the same old silly antics, don't miss this little book. The drawings are great and the subtle, implied humor even better. This is my favorite cartoon book to date.

Highly recommended.

As good as any of the other books in the far side, this book shows an intelligent witty humor! I regret having not read the Far Side comics earlier than I did, because they are honestly funny! A highly recommended read!

I reccomend this book to anyone, it's full of humour and ideas. Every cartoon is a garantee laugh.

This book will have you laughing all the way to the toilet...What you need to do is gather round your friends and family, even the old ones and enjoy this book together because it's quite fantastic. I started to look at his books at a very young age and was inspired to draw my own cartoons, which i have done for many years. So hopefully in a couple of years time I will be up there with the grandad himself! Richard

Gary Larson has most definitely outdone himself this time. This book is truly brilliant. Every drawing gets his point across and will make you laugh until you cry. Larson is undoubtedly the funniest cartoonist to ever live. Once you buy this book make certain that you do not have anything planned. Because once you start reading you will forget all about your plans. A must have for any Far Side fanatic or for anyone who likes to laugh.

I liked this book and its goofy cartoons. Sam the Dachshund loved the book so much he was inspired to eat part of the title page and roll in paint. He may be a Jackson Pollack in the making, and we owe it all to this book and the hilariously warped genius of Gary Larson.

This is a typically hilarious and strange offering of comics from Gary Larson and features eight full-color spoofs of famous artwork, including "The Scream" and "The Persistence of Time" involving those strange little animals known as "wiener dogs." These comics can appeal to anyone and are a fine addition to anyone's collection. Very highly recommended for anyone that loves to laugh!

P.S. It's spelled "dachshund," not "dochson" as a previous review puts it, but nobody says that anymore anyway. At least that's what Gary Larson says.

I love this book. My sister got it for me for christmas. I have a dochson and i just loved it. The little stories about failed dochson art in the centerfold are hilarious. This is just another one of Gary Larson's great books. I suggest any Larson fan to get this book.

Gary Larson should'nt of ahve retired from cartoons. He is so good

These are some of the funniest Far Side cartoons. This is probably the funniest Far Side collection, in my opinion. A must have for any real Far Side fan.

Wow. A complete far side book. this is absolutley amazing. The price is a mere dime for what you are actually reciving. absolutley amazing.

My brother and I have been searching for this book for 25 years. I began to think we had imagined the book until I heard Gary Larson talk about it in an interview. Like Mr. Larson, my brother loved to have it read over and over. (I did finally find an original one on the internet for $800!) The new book is as great as we remembered and was my favorite Christmas surprise. Thanks Amazon for making it available and easy to get.

There are some childhood memories that you cherish forever. This book is one of them.

As young children in Sackets Harbor, New York, my sister and I borrowed this book from the local library almost every week. When we were four and five we moved to Long Island. The librarian said to us -"You girls take this book - you loved it so." and we did love this book.

I found a copy through a children's book search and gave it to my sister for her 50th birthday. I could not have given her a better present.

This week, she sent me the 50th Anniversary edition, she got from Amazon. It touched my heart and soul more than I could imagine. The illustrations, especially the one with the bear running away are wonderful. Just saying "squash-you-all-flat" would make us giggle.

It warms my heart now that I have my own copy again. I think we always were glad the little guys were able to fend off the big bad bear in the end.

I hope a new generation can find a special place in their hearts for this story as we did.

This was my favorite book as a child. I looked for 15 years for this book and finally found a bookstore who knew what I was talking about. I asked that they find the book. One year passed and I got a call saying they were trying to find the book for me and were not sure they could find one in good condition. That was in October and I had been saving my quarters to pay for the book. I did not hear anything from them and on Christmas morning I opened my gifts and there was the book Mr.Bear Squash You All Flat. My husband got the call that the book had been found and bought it for me. I am a principal in an elementary school and read the story to the children and we talk about the language in the book, such as Neighborhood Nusiance, harms way and Modern. It really does lend to a lot of discussion. My version is the 1950 edition, but I am buying the new version for my grandchildren.

"Why not write a cartoon book that doesn't bother with a main character and where each joke is totally different from the next?!" That must have been similar to what Gary asked himself when starting to write his hilarious comic books. Every joke is truly different from the next one! And every joke is refreshingly original! Each joke comes from a thoughtful, clever and of course playful mind.

If you like Gary Larson but don't know which book to buy, this is the one. It is hilarious, has cow stuff. I asure you you'll laugh your brains out. Well, at least it happened to me

Not only being Gary Larson's first gallary book of the Far Side series but, a classic. Holding in it some of the most memorable and most enjoyable comic panels. A must have for anyone who collects Far Side books or anything relating with Far Side. A great book even if it is your first Gary Larson book to be interested in, a must have! The First Far Side Gallery, will always hold a special place on my book shelf. Be sure to check out his other books as well! Also if you want a laugh 365 days a year check out Gary Larson's "Off the Wall Desk Calender". its great, give you something to laugh at every day!

Larsen is the world's greatest cartoonist. Too bad he retired. I have envelopes filled with his cartoons clipped out of the newspaper (10+ years ago!) that I still can't bear to throw away. So I suppose this book was a good idea. It will take up less space than several bulging envelopes.

For younger people who can't remember his cartoons in the paper every day, you need to hurry up and start collecting his books so you can always be within arm's length of a smile or a laugh.

Also, I love the story about the "Jane Goodall Cartoon"

--George Stancliffe

gary larson is one he best cartoonists ever! you have to travel to the far side! all of his comics will have you thinking! its great! buy it, you'll love it!

We've all seen Far Side cartoons, stuck on office doors and cubicle walls, and said, "I don't get it." Then we've learned a little and come back, this time laughing raucously. This book is filled with all sorts of Far Side gems, most of which any average yutz can find hilarious. If you like the Far Side, or if you just like a glimpse at that which is odd, warped, and mind-bending (or, in other terms, Larsonesque), you should have this book.