First serialized in The New York Times Magazine Funny Pages”
The celebrated cartoonist and New Yorker illustrator Seth weaves the fictional tale of George Sprott, the host of a long-running television program. The events forming the patchwork of George’s life are pieced together from the tenuous memories of several informants, who often have contradictory impressions. His estranged daughter describes the man as an unforgivable lout, whereas his niece remembers him fondly. His former assistant recalls a trip to the Arctic during which George abandoned him for two months, while George himself remembers that trip as the time he began writing letters to a former love, from whom he never received replies.
Invoking a sense of both memory and its loss,
George Sprott is heavy with the charming, melancholic nostalgia that distinguishes Seth’s work. Characters lamenting societal progression in general share the pages with images of antiquated objectsproof of events and individuals rarely documented and barely remembered. Likewise, George’s own opinions are embedded with regret and a sense of the injustice of aging in this bleak reminder of the inevitable slipping away of lives, along with the fading culture of their days.
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George Sprott by Seth is an oversized graphic novel that was first serialized in the New York Times Magazine and tells of Sprott’s life as seen through the eyes of his colleagues, family members, friends, and foes. Sprott was a local televison showhost in Canada who was once a sensation but has since become dull and overstayed his welcome at the network. Within the first few pages of the novel, the reader discovers that Sprott is going to die of old age.
This graphic novel moves a lot slower than some of his other works and is not as interesting. Though the story may not be that interesting, the graphics and arrangement of pictures are incredibly intriguing. The novel is presented almost like a scrapbook with each page detailing a different day or time in his life. Some of the segments are memories from his past as a poor boy in a dysfunctional family. Others are memories from his journey to Antarctica and the film that he shot while there. Interspersed with his own memories, are those of his colorful friends, family members, and co-workers.
Personally, I thought that this work was a bit disappointing. The narrator is extremely informal which is comical at times and irritating at others. Though the art is wonderful, there is little action and no plot that fuels the art. Being that I am a fan of Seth, I found this work more telling about him than about the actual characters. Still, it was not autobiographical in the way that It’s a Good Life if You Don’t Weaken is. Though it is not his best, it is still interesting.
Man alive, I love Seth but what was this?! “It’s A Good Life If You Won’t Weaken” was brilliant as was “Clyde Fans”, while “Wimbledon Green” was a small masterwork. In fact it’s from “Wimbledon Green” that he bases most of his new book “George Sprott” on (there’s even one panel which I’m sure was in the endpapers of “Wimbledon Green” reproduced here). It’s a similar fictional biography told in part by the subject, part by an omniscient narrator and part by people who knew him.
Here’s the story of George Sprott. His parents argued when he was little. He attended seminary but dropped out to go to the arctic. While there he impregnated some eskimos and never got in touch with his bastard kids. He then had a successful radio then TV career talking to nobodies about his arctic trips. He had numerous affairs during his life and never had a fulfilling relationship with anyone. He dies.
It really is such a dull story about such an ordinary man. There’s nothing here to grip the reader. It just feels like you’re being talked to by an old biddy. “Oh the past was so much better”. Change the record Seth! Is this really all you have to say?
The utterly boring life story of George Sprott is padded out, sorry, interspersed with two page drawings of ice bergs and photographs of buildings made out of cardboard then are followed by a full page talking about that building. It’s the same for each building. It was a grand place one, in it’s heyday in the 30s or 40s then in the 90s it was demolished and blah blah blah.
I was so bored by this I was counting the pages til the end and there aren’t that many pages. It just drags interminably onwards through Sprott’s uneventful life. I didn’t like him at all as a character, he just struck me as a complete tw*t and couldn’t believe Seth thought he was interesting enough to base an entire book on!
And what a book! It’s a massive hardback, about the size of a road atlas. The design is beautiful as always and the drawings are up to a remarkably high standard. It’s just such a shame Seth decided to waste his talent on this drab and dreary character. I’d direct new readers to Seth to “Wimbledon Green” for a masterful book. Ignore this one and hope Seth ups his game for the next book.
You pass people like George Sprott on the street every day, and you probably never give them a second look. He’s a small-town TV star, well past his prime and soon to be relegated to the dustbin of history. He is ordinary, and his mark on the world would appear to be small. But no man is really ordinary, and each of us has a story to tell. George’s story is not a hopeful one; in fact, it carries a load of regret and remorse. Some of the tale is told through the eyes of his colleagues and associates — it’s hard to call them friends — and their words paint a fairly pathetic picture. But you will be touched and moved by it, I guarantee you. It’s a quick read, marvelously illustrated in dark monochromatics. You’ll treasure this and want to share it with anyone who has a conscience, anyone who has ever wondered about the value of a single, solitary life.
This book is an obvious attempt to make some quick cash by rubbishing the reputation of one of the best-loved figures of Canadian television. My father knew Sprott well and told me that he was actually far more clever than people made him out to be. That deal about sleeping on the set, for example. It was a GAG! Self-deprecatory humor. Sprott knew what he was about. But this “Seth” guy can’t even get his facts straight. Look, if you want good information about Sprott, might I recommend the classic “Minute Biographies of Canadian Television Personalities” which covers Sprott’s life with less detail much more accuracy.
I would think almost everyone knows the classic story of George Bailey in “It’s a Wonderful Life”. George Bailey is rescued from committing suicide on Christmas Eve by Clarence the wingless angel. Mr. Bailey thought that the world would be a better place without him. With the help of the narrators Franklin and Joseph along with our wingless angel, we all see the real merit of George Bailey’s life.
Seth’s narrative graphic depiction of George Sprott’s life can be the antithesis of “It’s a Wonderful Life”. Utilizing all the major events of George Sprott’s life we see a graphic narrative which emanates sadness, lost opportunities, narcissism, and loneliness and yes fame. Yes George Sprott gains a rather local limited fame and makes many acquaintances but are they true friends? Seth goes back and forth in his multi-narratives in which we learn of what people saw and thought of George Sprott.
Unlike “It’s a Wonderful Life”, Seth does not do his story in chronological order. Rather Seth jumps to a disparity of years, not in order, to convey certain philosophies and points of order. You will see a man struggling for a life of meaning and unlike George Bailey, George Sprott does not have an angel to guide him.
In as much as Sprott does not lead the “hometown hero” life of Mr. Bailey, Seth offers the fact that all life, even less than fulfilling ones are worth living. Seth’s use of graphics in showing a small Canadian town are, how can I say it, “Sethesque”. His story line again in the narrative and graphic depictions are what Edward Hopper conveyed in his art. I don’t have enough Stars!! Great graphic novella from Seth’s hand!!!