Joshua Kendall with Bruce Schulman: Trudeau & Doonesbury

• This event will take place at street level.
• If possible, events are livestreamed. Check out our store YouTube channel for livestream updates.
• ASL interpretation may be provided (based on the availability of interpreters) but must be requested at least 2 weeks in advance of the event.
• Please email us at [email protected] as soon as possible if you require ASL interpretation, guaranteed seating, or other accommodations. Seats are limited.We will do our best to serve your needs!

A definitive account of the life and work of Garry Trudeau, creator of the massively popular and influential cartoon Doonesbury, based on archival sources and extensive interviews, including with Trudeau himself, and lavishly illustrated with over 200 cartoons and images.

​Drawing on previously unmined archival materials and extensive interviews with Trudeau, his friends, fellow cartoonists, prominent journalists, and even politicians who were mocked in the strip, Trudeau & Doonesbury is an entertaining romp through both Trudeau's remarkable life and the last half century of American history.

Biographer Joshua Kendall tells the story of the cartoonist and what drove him to put pen to paper. He traces Trudeau's boyhood in the Adirondack Mountains, his teenage angst in prep school, and his formative years at Yale, where he began drawing his iconic strip. And he shows the changing world it reflected; Doonesbury began appearing in papers nationwide in 1970, and big events, from Watergate to the the war in Vietnam, fueled its popularity and its significance.

For more than 50 years, Doonesbury has helped drive the national conversation. The first comic strip to win a Pulitzer Prize, Garry Trudeau’s sprawling narrative featuring a host of beloved characters has reflected America back to itself, capturing the highlights and lowlights of American politics and culture with wit and penetrating insight. And as Doonesbury’s characters aged alongside their creator, Trudeau became one of the preeminent chroniclers of the Baby Boom generation.

A unique and compelling biography of both the individual behind Doonesbury and the times he has chronicled, Trudeau & Doonesbury is also a lavishly illustrated, full-color coffee table book featuring more than 200 cartoons.

Joshua Kendall has written for numerous newspapers and magazines, includingThe New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Boston Globe, BusinessWeek and Mother Jones. He is also the author of four previous biographies, including The Man Who Made Lists about Peter Roget, the author of the Thesaurus, and The Forgotten Founding Father about Noah Webster, the author of America's first dictionary.

Bruce Schulman is the William E. Huntington Professor of History at Boston University and the author of three books: From Cotton Belt to Sunbelt; Lyndon B. Johnson and American Liberalism; and The Seventies: The Great Shift in American Culture, Politics, and Society, which was named by The New York Times as one of its Notable Books of the Year in 2001. A contributor to the Washington Post, Time, The Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, Politico, and numerous other publications, Schulman has authored over a hundred newspaper and magazine essays. He has also appeared as an expert commentator on numerous television and radio programs and has consulted on productions by The History Channel, PBS, NHK (Japan), and ABC-News.

Brookline Booksmith, thriving in the heart of Coolidge Corner in Brookline, Massachusetts, since 1961, is one of New England’s premier independent bookstores. We offer a vast selection of books, ranging from current bestsellers to the most eclectic titles. We are also known for our beautiful and inspired gifts. Customers buy and sell gently used books in our treasured Used Book Cellar and enjoy our bountiful bargain book selection. We host award-winning events series (including our groundbreaking Transnational Literature Series), offering more than 300 author talks, community conversations, and book clubs annually. Find more at brooklinebooksmith.com!

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Brookline Booksmith, 279 Harvard Street, Brookline, United States

Concerts, fests, parties, meetups - all the happenings, one place.

Get App