Today, I have the pleasure of interviewing Mr. Fish.
Dwayne Booth (Mr. Fish) has been a freelance writer and cartoonist for twenty-five years, publishing under both his real name and the pen name of Mr. Fish. His work has appeared in numerous publications including the LA Times, LA Weekly, Village Voice, The Atlantic, The Nation, Vanity Fair, Harper’s Magazine, and more.
He was the subject of a 2017 award-winning documentary by Pablo Bryant called Mr. Fish: Cartooning from the Deep End. He’s published several books, with more forthcoming, but today we’ll be discussing one book in particular: Long Story Short: Turning Famous Books into Cartoons.
In this episode Mr. Fish and I discuss:
- What ambitious idea was the inspiration for Long Story Short.
- Why he enlisted the help of colleagues to help him accomplish his project.
- How visual art has a truth that resonates both emotionally and intellectually.
Plus, their #1 tip for writers.
About the Author
Dwayne Booth’s most recent books are Go Fish: How to Win Contempt and Influence People (Akashic Books 2011), WARNING! Graphic Content (Annenberg Press 2014), And Then the World Blew Up (Fantagraphics Books 2017), Long Story Short: Turning Famous Books into Cartoons (Akashic Books 2020), Nobody Left (Fantagraphics Books 2020) and For Christ’s Sake (Fantagraphics Books 2021).
You can follow Mr. Fish on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.
Long Story Short
The Catcher in the Rye. Lolita. Moby-Dick. Infinite Jest. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. A Room of One’s Own. Native Son. These are but a handful of classic works spectacularly distilled by Mr. Fish and a very talented group of painters, illustrators, graphic designers, and political cartoonists into succinct snapshots that are at times funny, sad, inspiring, rude, crude, beautiful, profound, stomach-turning, and mind-blowing.
Includes original artwork from: Mr. Fish, Ted Rall, Stephanie McMillan, Sarah Awad, Eli Valley, Wes Tyrell, Tamara Knoss, Keith Henry Brown, Sam Henderson, Lodi Marasescu, Surag Ramachandran, Tami Knight, Eric J. Garcia, Marissa Dougherty, Siri Dokken, John G., Andy Singer, Tara Seibel, Gary Dumm, Clare Kolat, Nate Ulsh, Benjamin Slyngstad, Ron Hill, JP Trostle, John Kovaleski, and Beth McCaskey.
If you decide to check out the book, we hope you’ll do so via this Amazon affiliate link, where if you choose to purchase via the link DIY MFA gets a referral fee at no cost to you. As always, thank you for supporting DIY MFA!
Nobody Left
The renowned political cartoonist sets out to ask the burning question: Is nobody LEFT any more?
The fearsome political cartoonist Mr. Fish investigates the meaning of progressive politics in the 21st century by comparing the New Left with the Newer Left and interrogating public intellectuals, comedians, writers, and politicians who have been part of the liberal cause from the 1950s to the present day.
Nobody Left includes interviews with and essays about Norman Mailer, Christopher Hitchens, Howard Zinn, Lily Tomlin, Graham Nash, Joan Baez, Dennis Kucinich, Tariq Ali, Calvin Trillin, Mort Sahl, Robert Scheer, Paul Krassner, Jon Stewart, and others. Mr. Fish sets out to answer the burning question: Is nobody LEFT any more?
If you decide to check out the book, we hope you’ll do so via this Amazon affiliate link, where if you choose to purchase via the link DIY MFA gets a referral fee at no cost to you. As always, thank you for supporting DIY MFA!
Link to Episode 327
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Until next week, keep writing and keep being awesome!
