Roz Chast Popular Books

Roz Chast Biography & Facts

Roz Chast (born November 26, 1954) is an American cartoonist and a staff cartoonist for The New Yorker. Since 1978, she has published more than 800 cartoons in The New Yorker. She also publishes cartoons in Scientific American and the Harvard Business Review. In recognition of her work, ComicsAlliance listed Chast as one of twelve women cartoonists deserving of lifetime achievement recognition. She was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 2010. In May 2017, she received the Alumni Award for Artistic Achievement at the Rhode Island School of Design commencement ceremony. Early life and education Chast grew up in the Flatbush section of Brooklyn, the only child of George Chast, a high school French and Spanish teacher, and Elizabeth, an assistant principal in an elementary school. Her Jewish parents were children during the Great Depression, and she has spoken about their extreme frugality. She graduated from Midwood High School in Brooklyn, and attended Kirkland College (which later merged with Hamilton College). She studied at the Rhode Island School of Design and received a BFA in painting in 1977. She also holds honorary doctorates from Pratt Institute, Dartmouth College, and the Art Institute of Boston at Lesley University; and is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Career Chast's subjects often deal with domestic and family life. In a 2006 interview with comedian Steve Martin for the New Yorker Festival, Chast revealed that she enjoys drawing interior scenes, often involving lamps and accentuated wallpaper, to serve as the backdrop for her comics. Her comics reflect a "conspiracy of inanimate objects", an expression she credits to her mother. Her first New Yorker cartoon, Little Things, was sold to the magazine in April 1978. The cartoon, which Chast describes as "peculiar and personal", shows a small collection of "Little Things"—strangely-named, oddly-shaped small objects such as "chent", "spak", and "tiv". Her New Yorker cartoons began as small black-and-white panels, but increasingly used more color and often appeared over several pages. Her first cover for The New Yorker was the August 4, 1986 issue. Chast has written or illustrated more than a dozen books, including Unscientific Americans, Parallel Universes, Mondo Boxo, Proof of Life on Earth, The Four Elements and The Party After You Left: Collected Cartoons 1995–2003 (Bloomsbury, 2004). In 2006, Theories of Everything: Selected Collected and Health-Inspected Cartoons, 1978–2006 was published, collecting most of her cartoons from The New Yorker and other periodicals. One characteristic of her books is that the "author photo" is always a cartoon she draws of, presumably, herself. The title page, including the Library of Congress cataloging information, is also hand-lettered by Chast. Her book, Can't We Talk About Something More Pleasant? is a graphic memoir, combining cartoons, text, and photographs to tell the story of an only child helping her elderly parents navigate the end of their lives. Chast is represented by Carol Corey Fine Art in Kent, Connecticut. Personal life Chast lives in Ridgefield, Connecticut with her husband, humor writer Bill Franzen. They have two children. Exhibitions "The Masters Series: Roz Chast" at School of Visual Arts in New York City (2018) "Cartoon Memoirs" at the Contemporary Jewish Museum (2017) "Cartoon Memoirs" at the Museum of the City of New York (2016) "Cartoon Memoirs" at the Norman Rockwell Museum (2015) Awards 2012 NYC Literary Honor in Humor 2013 Inducted, American Academy of Arts and Sciences 2014 Kirkus Prize winner for Can't We Talk About Something More Pleasant? 2014 National Book Critics Circle Award (Autobiography) winner for Can't We Talk About Something More Pleasant? 2015 Reuben Award, Cartoonist of the Year National Cartoonists Society 2015 20th Annual Heinz Award for the Arts and Humanities 2018 Harvey Award Hall of Fame inductee Bibliography Articles and comic strips Chast, Ros (November 8, 2010). "Leo Cullum". The Talk of the Town. Postscript. The New Yorker. 86 (35): 30. — (November 8, 2010). "Bananas". Shouts & Murmurs. The New Yorker. 86 (35): 40. — (July 20, 2015). "Back-yard bird talk". Shouts & Murmurs. The New Yorker. 91 (20): 29. — (July 25, 2016). "Epilogue". Sketchbook. The New Yorker. 92 (22): 44–45. — (December 28, 2020). "A cartoonist's life". Comics. The New Yorker. 96 (42): 33. — (June 21, 2021). "Father's Day". Sketchbook. The New Yorker. 97 (17): 63. — (September 12, 2022). "Food 'poems'". Sketchbook. The New Yorker. 98 (28): 39. Books Chast, Ros (1979). Last resorts. New York City: Ink Inc. — (1982). Unscientific Americans. Dial. — (1982). Three small books. New York: Kathryn Markel. — (1984). Parallel universes : cartoons. Harper. — (1985). Poems and songs. Ink Inc. Mondo Boxo (Harper, 1987) ISBN 9780060157951 The Four Elements (Harper, 1988) ISBN 9780708847817 Proof of Life on Earth (Harper, 1991) ISBN 9780060968861 Childproof (Hyperion, 1997) ISBN 9780786862443 The Party, After You Left (Bloomsbury, 2004) ISBN 9781632861078 Theories of Everything: Selected, Collected, and Health-Inspected Cartoons, 1978-2006 (Bloomsbury, 2008) ISBN 9781596915404 Too Busy Marco (Atheneum, 2010) ISBN 9781442440708 What I Hate: From A to Z (Bloomsbury, 2011) ISBN 9781608196890 A Friend for Marco (Atheneum, 2012) ISBN 9781416984757 Marco Goes to School (Atheneum, 2012) ISBN 9781416984757 Can't We Talk About Something More Pleasant? (Bloomsbury, 2014) ISBN 9781608198061 Roz Chast: Cartoon Memoirs (Norman Rockwell Museum, 2015) Around the Clock (Atheneum, 2015) ISBN 9781416984764 The Best American Comics 2016 (editor) (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016) ISBN 9780544750357 Going Into Town: A Love Letter to New York (Bloomsbury, 2017) ISBN 9781632869784 Marx, Patricia. You Can Only Yell at Me for One Thing at a Time (illustrated by Roz Chast), (New York: Celadon Books, 2020) I Must Be Dreaming (Bloomsbury, 2023) ISBN 9781620403228 ——————— Notes References Further reading Gopnik, Adam (December 30, 2019). "Sad buildings in Brooklyn : scenes from the life of Roz Chast". Profiles. The New Yorker. 95 (42): 32–39. (Online version is titled "Scenes from the life of Roz Chast") External links Official website Video: Roz Chast interview with comedian Steve Martin at the 2006 New Yorker Festival Interview with Roz Chast in Newsday, 2006 Interview with Roz Chast in New York Times, 2006 Interview with Roz Chast on NPR's "Fresh Air," 2014.. Discover the Roz Chast popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Roz Chast books.

Best Seller Roz Chast Books of 2024

  • RX synopsis, comments

    RX

    Rachel Lindsay

    A graphic memoir about the treatment of mental illness, treating mental illness as a commodity. In her early twenties in New York City, diagnosed with bipolar disorder, Rachel...

  • The Little Book of Restorative Justice for Older Adults synopsis, comments

    The Little Book of Restorative Justice for Older Adults

    Julie Friesen & Wendy Meek

    Exploring Restorative Justice Practices as a Compelling Response to the Challenges of an Aging Population As our global population ages, conflicts and difficult conversations emerg...

  • Tasha synopsis, comments

    Tasha

    Brian Morton

    A Washington Post Best Nonfiction Book of the YearIn the spirit of Fierce Attachments and The End of Your Life Book Club, acclaimed novelist Brian Morton delivers a “superb” (Maure...

  • Likewise synopsis, comments

    Likewise

    Ariel Schrag

    Ariel Schrag concludes her turbulent ride through high school in the longawaited final volume of her acclaimed series of compelling and strikingly honest autobiographical graphic n...

  • In Their Lives synopsis, comments

    In Their Lives

    Andrew Blauner

    The perfect gift for any Beatles fan, In Their Lives is an anthology of essays from a chorus of twentynine luminaries singing the praises of their favorite Beatles songs. The Beatl...

  • It Occurs to Me That I Am America synopsis, comments

    It Occurs to Me That I Am America

    Jonathan Santlofer

    A provocative, unprecedented anthology featuring original short stories on what it means to be an American from thirty bestselling and awardwinning authors with an introduction by ...

  • Assume the Worst synopsis, comments

    Assume the Worst

    Carl Hiaasen & Roz Chast

    This is Oh, the Places You'll Never Gothe ultimate hilarious, cynical, but absolutely realistic view of a college graduate's future. And what he or she can or can't do about it."Th...

  • Starting from Happy synopsis, comments

    Starting from Happy

    Patricia Marx

    While waiting in line for apple pie at a party, Imogene Gilfeather, a lingerie designer who does not understand the reason for romance, meets Wally Yez, a scientist whose business ...

  • We Saw Scenery synopsis, comments

    We Saw Scenery

    Merrill Markoe

    “Merrill Markoe got all the talent. In addition to being an Emmyaward winning comedy writer, she's also a topnotch artist. We Saw Scenery is revealing, sad, funny, and, above all, ...

  • Belonging synopsis, comments

    Belonging

    Nora Krug

    Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award Silver Medal Society of Illustrators Named a Best Book of the Year by The New York Times, The Boston Globe, San Francisco Chron...

  • The Best of the Rejection Collection synopsis, comments

    The Best of the Rejection Collection

    Matthew Diffee

    The best of the worst: these cartoons rejected by The New Yorker were deemed too dumb, too weird, or too naughtybut not for lack of laughs! Every week, hundreds and hundreds of car...