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Planet Simpson








Planet Simpson


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Planet Simpson

Planet Simpson.jpg
Cover of Planet Simpson (1st United States ed.)

Author
Chris Turner
Country
Canada
Language
English
Subject
The Simpsons
Genre
Non-fiction
Published
2004 (Random House Canada)
Media type
Print
Pages
466 pp.
ISBN
0-679-31318-4
OCLC
55682258

Planet Simpson: How a Cartoon Masterpiece Documented an Era and Defined a Generation, also abbreviated to Planet Simpson: How a Cartoon Masterpiece Defined a Generation, is a non-fiction book about The Simpsons, written by Chris Turner and originally published on October 12, 2004 by Random House.[1] The book is partly a memoir and an exploration of the impact The Simpsons has had on popular culture.




Contents





  • 1 Background

    • 1.1 Chapters



  • 2 Top 5 episodes


  • 3 Reception


  • 4 Editions


  • 5 References


  • 6 External links




Background[edit]


Planet Simpson was written by Canadian author Chris Turner, who is a big fan of The Simpsons, although "not even the biggest fan I know personally ... I think I am actually a pretty average hardcore fan. What I brought to it was a sense that because the show is as well put together as it is, it really offers a wide lens for looking at culture generally."[2] Turner notes: "I can count on The Simpsons to provide me with a solid thirty minutes of truth, of righteous anger, of hypocrisies deflated and injustices revealed, of belly laughter and joy. It is food for my soul. Seriously. I think many Simpsons fans would agree. And that, as far as I'm concerned, makes it a kind of religion," he explains in the book.[3] He had previously written an essay during his time at Shift entitled "The Simpsons Generation", which was syndicated across North America.[1] Turner wrote Planet Simpson because there had not been a book that had looked at the "genesis, past, characters and influence" of the show, only official episode guides or academic pieces.[2]


Planet Simpson examines the show's satirical humor and its impact on pop culture.[3] It also looks at numerous episodes of the show.


It features a foreword by Douglas Coupland.[1]



Chapters[edit]



  • Foreword by Douglas Coupland


  • Introduction: The Birth of the Simpsonian Institution


  • Chapter 1: The Life & Times of The Simpsons
    • A brief history of the show, its creation, its writers and a study of its various styles of humour. Also details the shows descendants and its "ancestors".


  • Chapter 2: Homer's Odyssey
    • Focuses on Homer Simpson, extended mention of Frank Grimes.


  • Chapter 3: Bart Simpson, Punk icon
    • Focuses on Bart Simpson, extended mention of Sideshow Bob, Krusty, and Principal Skinner.


  • Chapter 4: Citizen Burns
    • Focuses on Mr. Burns, extended mention of Jack Larson, Reverend Lovejoy, Lindsey Naegle, Mayor Quimby, Waylon Smithers, Squeaky Voiced Teen, Chief Wiggum, and Wiseguy.


  • Chapter 5: Lisa Lionheart
    • Focuses on Lisa Simpson.


  • Chapter 6: Marge Knows Best
    • Focuses on Marge Simpson, extended mention of Ned Flanders and Grampa Simpson.


  • Chapter 7: The Simpsons in Cyberspace
    • Focuses on the Internet and its influences in the show and the shows influence on the Internet, extended mention of Comic Book Guy.


  • Chapter 8: The Ugly Springfieldianite
    • Focuses on The Simpsons in the United States and abroad, extended mention of Apu and Groundskeeper Willie.


  • Chapter 9: The Simpsons Go Hollywood
    • Focuses on the shows take on Hollywood, celebrities and the shows many guest stars, extended mention of Kent Brockman, Krusty, Troy McClure, and Rainier Wolfcastle.


  • Chapter 10: The Simpsons Through the Looking Glass
    • Focuses on the shows take on pop culture.


  • Chapter 11: Planet Simpson
    • The conclusion of the book.


Top 5 episodes[edit]


The end of the first chapter includes a look at the author's Top 5 episodes. Turner lists "Last Exit to Springfield" as his favourite episode. The other four episodes ordered by airdate: "Marge vs. the Monorail", "Rosebud", "Deep Space Homer" and "El Viaje Misterioso de Nuestro Jomer (The Mysterious Voyage of Homer)".[4]



Reception[edit]


Christopher Hirst of The Independent felt the book would largely appeal to fans of The Simpsons who would enjoy "Turner's critical intelligence and social awareness," while "non-fans will see 470 pages of geeky raving." He felt the book was "sui generis," and its "combination of motor-mouthed omniscience and voluminous footnotes is reminiscent of a certain style of highbrow writing about pop music."[5] Curtis Gloade of The Record described the book as "almost 500 pages of this sort of meticulous, clear, and I believe, accurate rhetoric. It kept me nodding in agreement throughout. And laughing, too."[3] He also wrote that he hopes people will not skip by the book at the bookstore because it is about The Simpsons and assume that it is "little more than a laugh-along-with-me book with lots of pictures and funny quotes." Gloade commented that this is "not the case. I laughed out loud regularly at the many Simpsons quotes, but that's only a small part of the total package."[3] He concluded that Planet Simpson is an "enjoyable reading experience, one that will likely be matchless still for a long time because I highly doubt we'll see such a melding of a stellar pop culture icon (The Simpsons) and eloquent cultural critic (Turner) again for a long time."[3] Kevin Jackson of The Times gave a largely negative review of the book. While feeling Turner's knowledge of the show was vast and finding much of the initial "less well-known aspects of Simpsonian pre-history" interesting, he overall felt the book was mostly "flimflam and filler" and criticised Turner's "gee-whiz prose and occasional lapses into plain old illiteracy" and ultimately failed to achieve the analytical goal Turner set: "It would take wit as keen and literary flair as supple as [the show's writers] to do justice to the show, and Turner is gifted with neither: he may think like Lisa, but he writes more like the Comic Book Guy."[6]



Editions[edit]


























































Publishing date
Title
Edition
Tag

Imprint
Cover's Extras
Length
September 9, 2004

Planet Simpson: How a Cartoon Masterpiece Documented an Era and Defined a Generation
1st
UK

Ebury Press
Introduction by Douglas Coupland
Power Screen Global Cult Pop Politics Music[7]
472 pp.[8]
October 7, 2004

Planet Simpson: How a Cartoon Masterpiece Defined a Generation
1st abridged
USA

HighBridge
The first audio to bring witty, opinionated, in-depth analysis to
the longest-running sitcom of all time and the most important
pop-cultural phenomenon of our generation.
Abridged; 12 hours on 10 compact discs. Read by Oliver Wyman.[9]
12 hours[9]
October 12, 2004

Planet Simpson: How a Cartoon Masterpiece Documented an Era and Defined a Generation
1st (original)
CA

Random House Canada
Foreword by Douglas Coupland[10]466 pp.[11]
October 12, 2004

Planet Simpson: How a Cartoon Masterpiece Defined a Generation
1st
USA

Da Capo Press
Foreword by Douglas Coupland
author of Generation X[12]
464 pp.[13]
August 4, 2005

Planet Simpson: How a Cartoon Masterpiece Documented an Era and Defined a Generation
1st revised
UK

Ebury Press
Introduction by Douglas Coupland
‘This is a terrifically energetic book which, like its many-layered
subject, will reward repeat consumption.’ THE GUARDIAN[A][14]
480 pp.[15]
October 18, 2005

Planet Simpson: How a Cartoon Masterpiece Defined a Generation
1st revised
USA

Da Capo Press
"Quite simply, the definitive book about The Simpsons."—Q[16]464 pp.[17]
October 28, 2008

Planet Simpson: How a Cartoon Masterpiece Documented an Era and Defined a Generation
1st revised
with addition
CA

Vintage Canada
Foreword by Douglas Coupland
With a new afterword by the author[18]
576 pp.[19]
A. ^ Citation from article "Books previews: Saturday, 11 September 2004" (The Guardian).[20]


References[edit]




  1. ^ abc "Planet Simpson" (Product Description). Random House. Retrieved 2011-01-16. [dead link]


  2. ^ ab Moran, Jonathan (2004-11-11). "Planet Simpsons". The Age. Melbourne. Retrieved 2011-01-22. 


  3. ^ abcde Gloade, Curtis (2004-10-09). "Dohs! of our lives on Planet Simpson". The Record. p. P3. 


  4. ^ Turner 2004d, p. 70; Turner 2005b, p. 70


  5. ^ Hirst, Christopher (2005-08-26). "Paperbacks: Dirk Bogarde, Maggie: Her fatal legacy, Planet Simpson, Limeys, All the Wrong Places, Village of Stone, Fleshmarket Close". The Independent. London. Retrieved 2011-01-16. 


  6. ^ Jackson, Kevin (2004-09-05). "Television: Planet Simpson by Chris Turner". The Times. London. 


  7. ^ Turner 2004a, front cover.


  8. ^ Turner 2004a.


  9. ^ ab Turner 2004b, back cover.


  10. ^ Turner 2004c, front cover.


  11. ^ Turner 2004c.


  12. ^ Turner 2004d, front cover.


  13. ^ Turner 2004d.


  14. ^ Turner 2005a, front cover.


  15. ^ Turner 2005a.


  16. ^ Turner 2005b, front cover.


  17. ^ Turner 2005b.


  18. ^ Turner 2008, front cover.


  19. ^ Turner 2008.


  20. ^ Mueller, Andrew (September 11, 2004). "Planet Simpson [by] Chris Turner" (Book preview). London: The Guardian. Retrieved 2013-12-31. 


Bibliography

.mw-parser-output .refbeginfont-size:90%;margin-bottom:0.5em.mw-parser-output .refbegin-hanging-indents>ullist-style-type:none;margin-left:0.mw-parser-output .refbegin-hanging-indents>ul>li,.mw-parser-output .refbegin-hanging-indents>dl>ddmargin-left:0;padding-left:3.2em;text-indent:-3.2em;list-style:none.mw-parser-output .refbegin-100font-size:100%


  • Turner, Chris (September 9, 2004a). Planet Simpson: How a Cartoon Masterpiece Documented an Era and Defined a Generation. Introduction by Douglas Coupland (1st ed.). London: Ebury Press. ISBN 978-0-09-189756-7. OCLC 56457550. 


  • —— (October 7, 2004b). Planet Simpson: How a Cartoon Masterpiece Defined a Generation (Audiobook). Read by Oliver Wyman (1st abridged ed.). Minneapolis: HighBridge. ISBN 978-1-56511-901-7. OCLC 56882530. 


  • —— (October 12, 2004c). Planet Simpson: How a Cartoon Masterpiece Documented an Era and Defined a Generation. Foreword by Douglas Coupland (1st ed.). Toronto: Random House Canada. ISBN 978-0-679-31318-2. OCLC 55682258. 


  • —— (October 12, 2004d). Planet Simpson: How a Cartoon Masterpiece Defined a Generation. Foreword by Douglas Coupland (1st ed.). Cambridge: Da Capo Press. ISBN 978-0-306-81341-2. OCLC 670978714. 


  • —— (August 4, 2005a). Planet Simpson: How a Cartoon Masterpiece Documented an Era and Defined a Generation. Introduction by Douglas Coupland (1st revised ed.). London: Ebury Press. ISBN 978-0-09-190336-7. OCLC 56457550. 


  • —— (October 18, 2005b). Planet Simpson: How a Cartoon Masterpiece Defined a Generation (1st revised ed.). Cambridge: Da Capo Press. ISBN 978-0-306-81448-8. OCLC 670978714. 


  • —— (October 28, 2008). Planet Simpson: How a Cartoon Masterpiece Documented an Era and Defined a Generation. Foreword by Douglas Coupland, with a new afterword by the author (1st revised and expanded ed.). Toronto: Vintage Canada. ISBN 978-0-307-35704-5. OCLC 192053177. 



External links[edit]


  • Official website of the Author







Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Planet_Simpson&oldid=799533397"





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