Good Grief: The Story of Charles M. Schulz

The first full-length biography of Charles M. Schulz, dealing head-on with his feelings of shyness and loneliness, including new revelations such as the identity of the real-life Little Red-Haired Girl, and Schulz's struggles with agoraphobia...oh, you thought I was talking about "Schulz and Peanuts" by David Michaelis? No. Although all the reviews and articles about the Michaelis book breathlessly tout all the "new revelations" about Schulz, many of them actually first appeared here. For us Peanuts fans who only knew Schulz's story from his own writings in various anniversary & childrens' books, this book was like a gift from Heaven. Johnson traces a life a full of tragedy and triumph in a very engaging way. The tone is along the lines of a book-length People magazine profile, but she makes up for it with a wealth of detail, some memorable turns-of-phrase, and wit (something sorely missing from Michaelis' book). Obviously, the book doesn't cover the final decade of Schulz's life, and there are gaps(like the details of Schulz's first marriage) that the Michaelis book fills out. But this is a far more readable, pleasant book, though not without its poignant moments. In fact, for anyone unfamiliar with Schulz, I would tell them to read this book first, then the Michaelis book. I hope, in the midst of all the hype over the Michaelis book, that Good Grief gets some renewed attention. While it doesn't cover the Schulz story with the same depth as "Schulz and Peanuts", it's still a fine book. My only major gripe: no index!

Though Charles Schulz created one of the world's most popular comic strips and became a celebrity in the process, he remained a very private person. He was a rather simple man, and though he took the name of Charlie Brown from an old friend, Charles Schulz was the true soul of that lovable loser. GOOD GRIEF examines the life of Schulz, his work, and it's effect upon society. The book remains the most informative work on Schulz and gives insight into the inspiration for most of the Peanuts gang and even the story about the real "little red-haired girl". The only real flaw is that the book skips around from past to present from description to analysis from looking at Schulz to talking about one of his characters. It's not a bad style, but unfortunately in this case ruffles the flow of the biography. Nevertheless, it is a wonderful book for any Peanuts fan to read and also would be a good reference for anyone wanting to gain an apprectiation of one of the best comic strip artists of all time.

This book is such a wonderful find for any peanuts fan. A wonderful book by a wonderful person, Rheta Johnson. I look forward to any other books by her that may be published in the future...

"Good Grief" is the story of Charles M. Schulz, his early life and his struggle to become a cartoonist. "Good Grief" chronicles the evolution of the Peanuts gang and Mr. Schulz himself. And now with the retirement of Mr. Schulz, this is a timely biography

I enjoyed this book a lot. It was entertaining to read about the life of my favorite cartoonists and one of the many people I would like to meet. I learned that some of the social troubles I am going through now in high school happened to Schulz in high school but he broke through that to be a successful man. This book helped me learn about him and get an "A" on my literature term paper.