Playboy's Silverstein Around the World

Shel Silverstein to most people will always be remebered for his work for children, but tell them he was a songwriter and more surpisingly did cartoons for Playboy, they won't believe you. Through these works we see a side rarely seen or remembered by many. In these works we see a blossoming young artist, traveling exotic locales such as Mexico, London, Paris, Spain, Africa, even a nudist colony and Fire Island. In each of these places he takes his own spin on them though his drawings and writing and creates something very intriging.

My father used to read me Shel Silverstein's books as a child. I now read them to my son, bits and peices at a time. So when I saw this book, I thought what more perfect gift could I give to my father. A reminder of our time long past, as well as a cheeky look at one of the most prolific man0child authors of the modern age. This book covers Silverstein's time wioth Playboy magazine, and it is a terrific insight to the slightly off kilter brilliance that was Shel Silverstein. If your a Playboy afficianado, this is a must. If your a Shel Silverstein enthusiast, don't hesitate. A dabbler with "Where the Sidewalk Ends" might not be an anthused, but this is great work from a great mind.

Hugh M. Hefner writes in the introduction to Playboy's Silverstein Around the World, "Everything begins here. It is impossible to separate Shel's later work from these drawings and these experiences. They are the beginning of it all, without question." This 180-page art book is printed in glossy color on high quality stock. Silverstein's ten years of colorblock illustrated travel essays for Playboy magazine cover topics ranging from bull fighting to a nudist camp to life among Muslims. During the Cold War, Shel traveled to the heart of Moscow, the Red Square, posing undercover as a youth rally member in order to report on the event. Shel had no set intinerary as an explorer, rather, he followed his personal impulses and the whims of the world. In total, Silverstein wrote 23 travelogues for Hugh Hefner's magazine during the 1950's and 1960's. Although he was later most renowned as a children's author, his work for Playboy continued well into the 1990's. This delightful collection commemorates the birth of one of the twentieth century's greatest humorists.