You Give Great Meeting, Sid

It is always interesting to go back and re-read these collections of "Doonesbury" strips from my college days (which lasted a long time) and read the back cover blurb about how G. B. Trudeau was blurring the line between the real world and his comic strips. For "You Give Great Meeting, Sid," the "Los Angeles Times" comments on how Trudeau's comic strip characters struggling to make a deal on the life story of sports-car manufacturer John DeLorean, who had been arrested on cocaine trafficking charges, was paralleling the efforts of DeLorean's real-life counterparts to do the same thing. But as with most "Doonesbury" collections, with "You Give Great Meeting, Sid" you come for the political satire and stay for the characters. The cover might show Duke and Sid taking a meeting in a hot tub while enjoying a Southern California sunset, but the most defining arc of this collection ends up being the pregnancy of Joanie Caucus (and the efforts of Rick Redfern to get with the program).Roland Hedley is sent to Lebanon (after having to do his own laundry), Boopsie is working out with Jane Fonda at the exercise video star's fitness center, and Congresswoman Davenport is addressing the Bay Area Gay Alliance. Meanwhile Zonker is doing job interviews and Secretary of Labor Ray Donovan is having another testimonial dinner, while Phil Slackmeyer has been named Chairman of the Board and is taking his company to the mattresses to gobble up a petrochemical company in an unfriendly takeover. Actually it is not until late in the book that Duke decides to leave the streets and make a movie deal on the DeLorean story. By that time Joanie and Rick have dealt with amniocentesis and gaining weight, not to mention almost drinking wine and almost make it all the way through birthing class. Ultimately, these 1982-83 "Doonesbury" cartoons are average Trudeau offerings, which means they are still superior to the competition, both then and now. The more you know about the political and cultural history of this period, the better you will understanding the jokes and jibes, but it is not a prerequisite.