Books by Roz Chast
Can't We Talk about Something More Pleasant?: A Memoir
by Roz Chast
#1 New York Times Bestseller
2014 National Book Award Finalist
Winner of the inaugural 2014 Kirkus Prize in nonfiction
Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award
Winner of the 2014 Books for a Better Life Award
Winner of the 2015 Reuben Award from National Cartoonists Society
In her first memoir, New Yorker cartoonist Roz Chast brings her signature wit to the topic of aging parents. Spanning the last several years of their lives and told through four-color cartoons, family photos, and documents, and a narrative as rife with laughs as it is with tears, Chast's memoir is both comfort and comic relief for anyone experiencing the life-altering loss of elderly parents.
While the particulars are Chast-ian in their idiosyncrasies--an anxious father who had relied heavily on his wife for stability as he slipped into dementia and a former assistant principal mother whose overbearing personality had sidelined Roz for decades--the themes are universal: adult children accepting a parental role; aging and unstable parents leaving a family home for an institution; dealing with uncomfortable physical intimacies; and hiring strangers to provide the most personal care.
An amazing portrait of two lives at their end and an only child coping as best she can, Can't We Talk about Something More Pleasant shows the full range of Roz Chast's talent as cartoonist and storyteller.
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Can't We Talk about Something More Pleasant?: A Memoir
by Roz Chast
#1 New York Times Bestseller
2014 NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST
In her first memoir, New Yorker cartoonist Roz Chast brings her signature wit to the topic of aging parents. Spanning the last several years of their lives and told through four-color cartoons, family photos, and documents, and a narrative as rife with laughs as it is with tears, Chast’s memoir is both comfort and comic relief for anyone experiencing the life-altering loss of elderly parents.
When it came to her elderly mother and father, Roz held to the practices of denial, avoidance, and distraction. But when Elizabeth Chast climbed a ladder to locate an old souvenir from the “crazy closet”―with predictable results―the tools that had served Roz well through her parents’ seventies, eighties, and into their early nineties could no longer be deployed.
While the particulars are Chast-ian in their idiosyncrasies―an anxious father who had relied heavily on his wife for stability as he slipped into dementia and a former assistant principal mother whose overbearing personality had sidelined Roz for decades―the themes are universal: adult children accepting a parental role; aging and unstable parents leaving a family home for an institution; dealing with uncomfortable physical intimacies; managing logistics; and hiring strangers to provide the most personal care.
An amazing portrait of two lives at their end and an only child coping as best she can, Can't We Talk about Something More Pleasant will show the full range of Roz Chast’s talent as cartoonist and storyteller.
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The Alphabet from A to Y With Bonus Letter Z!
The acclaimed entertainer and bestselling author Steve Martin andthe wildly clever New Yorker cartoonistRoz Chast team up in a weird, wonderful excursion through the alphabet.
The ABCs have never had it so good. Created by two of today’s wittiest, most imaginative minds, The Alphabet from A to Y with Bonus Letter Z! is a sheer delight from A to Z. In twenty-six alliterative couplets, Steve Martin conjures up much more than mere apples and zebras. Instead we meet Horace the hare, whose hairdo hides hunchbacks, and Ollie the owl, who owed Owen an oboe. Roz Chast contributes the perfect visual settings for Martin’s zany two-liners. Her instantly recognizable drawings are packed with humorous touches both broad and subtle.
Each rereading—and there will be many—delivers new delights and discoveries. There, hidden behind Bad Baby Bubbleducks, is a framed picture of a beatnik holding balloons; and the letter C finds clunky Clarissa all clingy and clueless adrift in a landscape cluttered with images ranging from a curiously comfortable clown to Chuck’s Chili stand. A smart, laugh-inducing introduction to the alphabet for young children, The Alphabet from A to Y with Bonus Letter Z! will also enchant adults with its matchless mix of the sophisticated and the silly.
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The Best American Comics 2016 (The Best American Series ®)
by Roz Chast, Bill Kartalopoulos
“There’s something thrilling about seeing people invent new ways to tell their story. To me, it’s proof that the art form of comics is healthy: it lives and grows and reinvents itself. It’s alive!”
–Roz Chast, from the Introduction
FEATURING Lynda Barry, Kate Beaton, Cece Bell, Geneviève Elverum, Ben Katchor, John Porcellino, Joe Sacco, Adrian Tomine, Chris Ware, Julia Wertz, and others
Roz Chast, guest editor, was born in Brooklyn, New York. Her cartoons began appearing in The New Yorker in 1978. Since then she has published hundreds of cartoons and written or illustrated more than a dozen books. Her memoir Can’t We Talk About Something More Pleasant? was a #1 New York Times bestseller and a 2014 National Book Award Finalist.
Bill Kartalopoulos, series editor, is a comics critic, educator, curator, and editor. He teaches courses about comics at Parsons and at the School of Visual Arts. He lives in Brooklyn, New York. For more information please visit: on-panel.com.
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Roz Chast Wall Calendar 2026
by Roz Chast, Workman Calendars
ICONIC CARTOONS: Each month features one of Roz Chast's delightfully funny (and sometimes too relatable) cartoons, like Parental Valentines in February, Beach Blanket Botticelli in July, and the Last Thanksgiving in November. GREAT GIFT: Perfect for fans of the artist, comedy enthusiasts, or anyone who needs a laugh. NOW PLASTIC-FREE!: Workman wall calendars are completely plastic-free! Now printed with an extended paper flap closed with a fully recyclable seal—no more shrink-wrap!
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$16.99
Marco Goes to School
by Roz Chast
The irrepressibly inquisitive Marco is off to school in this picture book from New Yorker cartoonist Roz Chast.
Marco is the busiest bird, and it’s time he goes to school! There is so much to do at school, from lessons to lunch to building a block tower to the moon! But Marco soon learns that his plans for the day may be just a bit too ambitious. Luckily, school has one extra surprise for him—and that’s a new friend!
In Marco’s latest wacky adventure, acclaimed cartoonist Roz Chast proves that it’s not getting to the moon that counts—it’s the friends we make along the way.
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Around the Clock
by Roz Chast
This wacky romp from New Yorker cartoonist Roz Chast includes entertaining antics for every hour, on the hour. Counting time has never been so fun!
From 12 to 1, Lynn eats baloney
With her imaginary friend, Tony.
From 1 to 2, in his fanciest pants,
Don is digging a hole to France.
Do you ever wonder what your friends, enemies, brothers, sisters, and children are doing in the hours when you’re not there? This kooky twenty-four-hour tour of a day in the life of twenty-three different children will reveal answers from the absurd…to the hilarious…to the absurdly hilarious!
Beloved New Yorker cartoonist Roz Chast is at her finest in this picture book brimming with her trademark stamp of zany humor.
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Too Busy Marco
by Roz Chast
It's time for bed again, and Marco, a small red bird who lives with his (human) mother and father, simply has too much to do! He's got masterpieces to paint, underwater inventions to create, halfpipes to skate -- or better yet, inventions to create so that he can paint underwater while skateboarding at a world-class level! How can it possibly all get done? When one idea builds on top of another, and every object he encounters just screams inspiration, why would Marco ever want to put on his pajamas and brush his beak? With humor and a great deal of energy, this delightful new character from acclaimed illustrator Roz Chast will rev kids up and wear them out--just in time for bed.
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Before the Internet Journal
by Roz Chast
Remember the good old days with this illustrated journal, perfect for keeping track of ideas the analog way.
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50 Postcards for All Occasions
by Roz Chast
This box of 50 postcards offers a cartoon for every occasion imaginable, including excuse cards, midway- point-of-vacation missives, parental valentines, and more!
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Theories of Everything: Selected, Collected, Health-inspected Cartoons, 1978-2006
by Roz Chast
At last, the comprehensive book of cartoons from beloved New Yorker cartoonist Roz Chast.
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Theories of Everything: Selected, Collected, and Health-Inspected Cartoons, 1978-2006
by Roz Chast
A rich collection of three decades of Roz Chast's most beloved cartoons.
"Where would we be without Roz Chast? Chast's magnificent career-spanning collection highlights her position as master of the deep interior, of the obsessions, the baseless fears and the weird proverbs to which we cling in our desperation not to leave the house."- Susan Salter Reynolds, Los Angeles Times
This wonderfully comprehensive collection spanning nearly three decades and arranged chronologically-and drawn from the pages of magazines including Scientific American and Redbook as well as The New Yorker-brings together, for the first time, the very best of Roz Chast, whom O Magazine called "the wryest pen since Dorothy Parker's."
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What I Hate: From A to Z
by Roz Chast
A hilarious illustrated compendium of pet peeves and personal nightmares from the beloved New Yorker cartoonist and New York Times bestselling author of Can't We Talk About Something More Pleasant? and Going into Town.
The pages of the New Yorker are hallowed ground for cartoonists, and for the last thirty years, Roz Chast has helped set the magazine's cartooning standard, while creating work that is unmistakably her own- characterized by her shaggy lines, an ecstatic way with words, and her characters' histrionic masks of urban and suburban anxiety, bedragglement, and elation.
What I Hate is an A to Z of epic horrors and daily unpleasantries, including but by no means limited to rabies, abduction, tunnels, and the triple-layered terror of Jell-O 1-2-3. With never-before-published, full-page cartoons for every letter, and supplemental text to make sure the proper fear is instilled in every heart, Chast's alphabetical compendium will resonate with anyone well-versed in the art of avoidance- and make an instructive gift for anyone who might be approaching life with unhealthy unconcern.
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Going Into Town: A Love Letter to New York
by Roz Chast
The Washington Post "10 Best Graphic Novels of the Year"
New York magazine "The Year's Most Giftable Coffee-Table Books"
Newsday "Best Fall Books"
The Verge "10 Best Comics of the Year"
Oklahoman "Best Graphic Novels of the Year"
Winner of the New York City Book Award
From the #1 NYT bestselling author of Can't We Talk About Something More Pleasant?, Roz Chast, an "absolutely laugh-out-loud hysterical" (AP) illustrated ode/guide/thank-you to Manhattan.
New Yorker cartoonist and NYT bestselling author Roz Chast, native Brooklynite-turned-suburban commuter deemed the quintessential New Yorker, has always been intensely alive to the glorious spectacle that is Manhattan--the daily clash of sidewalk racers and dawdlers, the fascinating range of dress codes, and the priceless, nutty outbursts of souls from all walks of life.
For Chast, adjusting to life outside the city was surreal (you can own trees!? you have to drive!?), but she recognized that the reverse was true for her kids. On trips into town, they would marvel at the strange visual world of Manhattan--its blackened sidewalk gum wads, "those West Side Story–things" (fire escapes)--its crazily honeycombed systems and grids.
Told through Chast's singularly zany, laugh-out-loud, touching, and true cartoons, Going into Town is part New York stories (the "overheard and overseen" of the island borough), part personal and practical guide to walking, talking, renting, and venting--an irresistible, one-of-a-kind love letter to the city.
Copies
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Going Into Town: A Love Letter to New York
by Roz Chast
Washington Post "10 Best Graphic Novels of the Year"
New York Magazine "The Year’s Most Giftable Coffee Table Books"
Newsday "Best Fall Books"
The Verge "The Ten Best Comics of the Year"
An Indie Next Pick
Winner of the New York City Book Award
From the #1 NYT bestselling author of Can’t We Talk About Something More Pleasant?, Roz Chast, an "absolutely laugh-out-loud hysterical" (AP) illustrated ode/guide/thank-you to Manhattan.
New Yorker cartoonist and NYT bestselling author Roz Chast, native Brooklynite-turned-suburban commuter deemed the quintessential New Yorker, has always been intensely alive to the glorious spectacle that is Manhattan--the daily clash of sidewalk racers and dawdlers; the fascinating range of dress codes; and the priceless, nutty outbursts of souls from all walks of life.
For Chast, adjusting to life outside the city was surreal--(you can own trees!? you have to drive!?)--but she recognized that the reverse was true for her kids. On trips into town, they would marvel at the strange visual world of Manhattan--its blackened sidewalk gum-wads, "those West Side Story-things" (fire escapes)--and its crazily honeycombed systems and grids.
Told through Chast’s singularly zany, laugh-out-loud, touching, and true cartoons, Going Into Town is part New York stories (the "overheard and overseen" of the island borough), part personal and practical guide to walking, talking, renting, and venting--an irresistible, one-of-a-kind love letter to the city.
Copies
No copies available.
I Must Be Dreaming
by Roz Chast
A USA TODAY BESTSELLER
A New Yorker Best Book of the Year
A New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice
A Washington Post Best Graphic Book of the Year
#1 New York Times bestselling, award-winning New Yorker cartoonist Roz Chast’s new graphic narrative, exploring the surreal nighttime world inside her mind―and untangling one of our most enduring human mysteries: dreams.
Ancient Greeks, modern seers, Freud, Jung, neurologists, poets, artists, shamans―humanity has never ceased trying to decipher one of the strangest unexplained phenomena we all experience: dreaming. Now, in her new book, Roz Chast illustrates her own dream world, a place that is sometimes creepy but always hilarious, accompanied by an illustrated tour through “Dream-Theory Land” guided by insights from poets, philosophers, and psychoanalysts alike. Illuminating, surprising, funny, and often profound, I Must Be Dreaming explores Roz Chast’s newest subject of fascination―and promises to make it yours, too.
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$27.99
The Party, After You Left
by Roz Chast
Readers can't get enough of Roz Chast. Now the classic collection The Party, After You Left is back in print. Together, these cartoons, which originally appeared in The New Yorker, Scientific American, Redbook, and other publications, constitute a spot-on record of our increasingly absurd existence. The book is a powerful reminder of how lucky we are to have Roz Chast among us to tackle some of the toughest themes of the times with uproarious humor: genetically altered mice, birthday parties from hell, and comfort drinks in the age of insecurity.
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Roz Chast 2018 Engagement Calendar
by Roz Chast
Quirky, insightful, and laugh-out-loud funny, this engagement calendar offers a weekly dose of humor from beloved New Yorker cartoonist and bestselling author Roz Chast.
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The Party, After You Left Collected Cartoons 1995-2003
by Roz Chast
The Party, After You Left brings together the last nine years of cartoons from Roz Chast. Together these drawings, which originally appeared in the New Yorker, Scientific American, Redbook, and other publications, constitute a spot-on record of our increasingly absurd existence. As the twenty-first century begins, we can only be grateful that Roz Chast is here to tackle some of the tough themes of the times: genetically altered mice, birthday parties from hell, and comfort drinks in the age of insecurity.
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