Revenge of Latchkey Kids: An Illustrated Guide to Surviving the 90s and Beyond

by Ted Rall

Book Overview

Angry, unappeasable, and funny as hell, Ted Rall is a mind to pay attention to, a one-on-one freelance revolutionary who sees through the hyperbole and hypocrisies of our society with a clear and unflinching eye. Syndicated as both a cartoonist and columnist through Universal Press Syndicate, he reaches more than 100 papers and magazines, and his most recent graphic novel, "The Worst Thing I've Ever Done," won a Firecracker Alternative Book Award...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0761107452
• ISBN13: 9780761107453
• Release Date: January 1998
• Publisher: Workman Publishing
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 1.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 7.5" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

A wise man shares his wisdom

Ted Rall is a great guy who just happens to be a little angry. Fortunately he's learned to funnel this into a fantastic book which I highly recommend. If you've ever in any way found yourself disgruntled with a terrible workplace or happen to be a latch key kid yourself, this book will speak a lot of truth to you. It's clever and funny and I can't wait for Ted Rall's next tome.

Must-read for the new millenium

Ted Rall succeeds where Scott Adams fails. These cartoons are the biting real-life social commentary that Dilbert likes to think it is. Burn those Dilbert books and buy more Ted Rall.

excellent work, man!

An excellent commentary on the 90s

What can I say? I love the book

I must admit, I can relate to a lot of what Rall has seen and has to say, so naturally I'd end up reading this book. "Kids" is a deeply analytical book compared to some of the drivel I've had to read by "experts" before, and it's eerily correct in most cases. An article in July's "George" about pro wrestling being a populist assault on America immediately reminded me of the section on talk shows in this book. By God, people are going to be heard one way or another; be it Montel Williams or "Raw". I love this book, and I wish I could read it again if it weren't packed away in some box. As for Littleton, if people actually listened to him and others like him in the first place (especially those involved on both sides) it would have at least been less of a surprise. Hell, I anticipated something like that at my or another local high school until the day I graduated because things don't seem to have changed since he was in high school except that they have provoked even worse results- something that was to be expected if no one cared until it was too late.

You?ve had it with your parents, job and relationship...

Now get it from Rall. Too bad the publisher demurred at using the original title: "Kill Your Parents Before They Kill You." "Revenge of the Latchkey Kids" sounds like the newest release in the Goosebumps series. "Kill Your Parents" fits this hilarious, edgy read about pitting yourself against squabbling divorcee parents, an unbalanced education system, boomer bosses, information overload and, of course, your dead end job. I laughed through the whole virtuously pessimistic book that reminded me that even if I could be part of The System, I wouldn't want to be. Excerpts from Latchkey could be used as a 9-to-5 survival guide. Even if you aren't daring enough to follow Rall's advice on using company resources for personal gain, reading the book between breaks will prevent you from becoming a drone. The book is half prose, half cartoon and entirely comic. When I first approached it, I floated along its surface, turning the pages to get to the next witty cartoon, reading the text because it was in between the last satirical doodle and the next page. However, as I progressed with the book I found myself flipping back a few pages to catch the cartoons I had skipped over, so engrossed had I become with Rall's writing. Consequently, I reread the first part of the book to comb over what I might have missed on the first exposure. Rall attacks the various mundane, yet unassumingly debilitating systems that we encounter in our daily lives, while seething beneath a veneer of humor.