Conceived and Edited by P. J. O’Rourke
Designed and Art Directed by Skip Johnson
Assistant Editor: John Hughes
Publisher: National Lampoon Magazine
Softcover [printed as an actual newspaper]
Date: 1978, original edition
The National Lampoon’s High School Yearbook parody seemed to be the apex of middlebrow satire. Then we got hold of the small city Ohio Sunday Newspaper parody. It is longer, more complex, wittier, and more satirically pointed. All the sections of a Sunday newspaper are there. Every single item has exactly the Sunday paper tone, but it is off by 1 degree or 90 degrees or 180 degrees. Ads. The TV schedule. Local news. Photo captions. High school sports. Everything. Thousands of discrete bits that make a literary mosaic whole.
The question is, does it work? Is it straining to hit a gnat with a hammer? Well, it actually comes across gentler and more affectionate than other midwestern literary investigations like Babbitt or Spoon River Anthology. It also has as much or more truth as can be found in serious studies like Middletown by the Lynds. It conveys blinkered lives and quiet desperation, yes, but also energy, fumbling connections, local pride, and drive.
Condition: Good. A small amount of yellowing as this was printed on newsprint and Sunday newspaper magazine stock.
Conceived and Edited by P. J. O’Rourke
Designed and Art Directed by Skip Johnson
Assistant Editor: John Hughes
Publisher: National Lampoon Magazine
Softcover [printed as an actual newspaper]
Date: 1978, original edition
The National Lampoon’s High School Yearbook parody seemed to be the apex of middlebrow satire. Then we got hold of the small city Ohio Sunday Newspaper parody. It is longer, more complex, wittier, and more satirically pointed. All the sections of a Sunday newspaper are there. Every single item has exactly the Sunday paper tone, but it is off by 1 degree or 90 degrees or 180 degrees. Ads. The TV schedule. Local news. Photo captions. High school sports. Everything. Thousands of discrete bits that make a literary mosaic whole.
The question is, does it work? Is it straining to hit a gnat with a hammer? Well, it actually comes across gentler and more affectionate than other midwestern literary investigations like Babbitt or Spoon River Anthology. It also has as much or more truth as can be found in serious studies like Middletown by the Lynds. It conveys blinkered lives and quiet desperation, yes, but also energy, fumbling connections, local pride, and drive.
Condition: Good. A small amount of yellowing as this was printed on newsprint and Sunday newspaper magazine stock.
