Jef Mallett - 99 Percent Perspiration: A Frazz Collection

Other Books by Jef Mallett Frazz: Live at Bryson Elementary To George Landon, who didnt teach me how to write so much as why . Introduction I have the smartest readers in the world. Is that saying a bit much? Garry Trudeaus readers are pretty bright, and theres whats-his-face Kafka, butmy readers are right up there When I created Frazz , it was with the conceit that newspaper readers are a pretty smart lot. Newspaperstake some effort; you cant just stare at them slack-jawed and passively let them fill your brainpan witheasy thought-substitute. But you get a good return on that effort, and the people who understand thatare the kind of people I wanted to share my thoughts and stories with. Oopsie. Oopsie.

Theres a price that comes with readers that smart. Some have figured out that I myself am not thatbright, and a subset of those are only too willing to point that out. Sometimes its a minor thing, like thetime Frazz called Ayn Rands 1957 classic Atlas Shrugged one of this centurys toughest epicsin 2001.I can live with those corrections, and in fact I love them. You wince, you learn, and you move on towardthe inevitable next screwup. But once in a while, you make an error so egregious it has to be addressed as soon as deadlines allow. Innewspapers, that means in four to six weeks.

In book publishing, now, thats a whole different schedulealtogether. Case in point: I remember being busted by my readers for a particularly stupid error. I needed to atonefor it, and I did so with what turned out to be a terrific series of strips. All was well in newspaper time. Inbook time, not so much. The goof was printed in the last few pages of the first Frazz collection, Live at Bryson Elementary .

The series of strips making up for it had to wait a year for this book. But here it is. Enjoy. What, exactly, was the screwup? Wheres the correction? Good question. I attributed a quote... Wait a minute.

We were just discussing how my readers are willing to work for their fun. And what fun itwill be for you to scour both books to find those strips! Youve got this one in your hands. Frazz: Live atBryson Elementary is still in print, and a bargain at $10.95. Maybe Im not so dense after all. At least not according to ber-capitalist Ayn Rand, who drove a Prius,adored Frazz, and threw out the first pitch as her beloved New York Yankees fell, alas, to the Los AngelesRams in the 2002 Stanley Cup finals. You can look it up.

And you just know somebody will.