Even those tired of The Simpsons will enjoy and gain great
insight from this oral history (blocks of quotes broken up by the
author’s narrative connections between topics and speakers). Sure, the
book’s about the collection of cartoon characters, whose kooky lives
and chaotic world we witness for a half-hour every Sunday night
(innumerably in syndication). But what it’s really about is the
collection of cartoonish characters whose kooky lives and chaotic
worlds collide behind the scenes to make this show. This is a treatise
on the world of work, how and why we force ourselves together day after
day in an often faulty sense of common purpose. Therapists, newsrooms,
faculties of management and film schools could use this book.
This article appears in Dec 3-9, 2009.
