Planet Simpson

{{infobox book |

|name=Planet Simpson

|caption=Cover of Planet Simpson (1st United States ed.)

|image=Planet Simpson.jpg

|author=Chris Turner

|cover_artist=

|country=Canada

|language=English

|subject=The Simpsons

|genre=Non-fiction

|published=2004 (Random House Canada)

|media_type=Print

|pages=466 pp.

|isbn=0-679-31318-4

|oclc=55682258

}}

Planet Simpson: How a Cartoon Masterpiece Documented an Era and Defined a Generation, also abbreviated to Planet Simpson: How a Cartoon Masterpiece Defined a Generation, is a non-fiction book about The Simpsons, written by Chris Turner and originally published on October 12, 2004 by Random House.{{cite web |url=http://www.randomhouse.ca/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9780679313182 |title=Planet Simpson |type=Product Description |publisher=Random House |access-date=2011-01-16}}{{dead link|date=December 2013}} The book is partly a memoir and an exploration of the impact The Simpsons has had on popular culture.

Background

Planet Simpson was written by Canadian author Chris Turner, who is a big fan of The Simpsons, although "not even the biggest fan I know personally ... I think I am actually a pretty average hardcore fan. What I brought to it was a sense that because the show is as well put together as it is, it really offers a wide lens for looking at culture generally."{{cite news |url=http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/11/11/1100131120141.html?from=storyrhs |title=Planet Simpsons |date=2004-11-11 |access-date=2011-01-22 |author=Moran, Jonathan |location=Melbourne |work=The Age}} Turner notes: "I can count on The Simpsons to provide me with a solid thirty minutes of truth, of righteous anger, of hypocrisies deflated and injustices revealed, of belly laughter and joy. It is food for my soul. Seriously. I think many Simpsons fans would agree. And that, as far as I'm concerned, makes it a kind of religion," he explains in the book.{{cite news |last=Gloade |first=Curtis |title=Dohs! of our lives on Planet Simpson |newspaper=The Record |date=2004-10-09 |page=P3}} He had previously written an essay during his time at Shift entitled "The Simpsons Generation", which was syndicated across North America. Turner wrote Planet Simpson because there had not been a book that had looked at the "genesis, past, characters and influence" of the show, only official episode guides or academic pieces.

Planet Simpson examines the show's satirical humor and its impact on pop culture. It also looks at numerous episodes of the show.

It features a foreword by Douglas Coupland.

=Chapters=

Foreword by Douglas Coupland
Introduction: The Birth of the Simpsonian Institution
Chapter 1: The Life & Times of The Simpsons
A brief history of the show, its creation, its writers and a study of its various styles of humour. Also details the shows descendants and its "ancestors".
Chapter 2: Homer's Odyssey
Focuses on Homer Simpson, extended mention of Frank Grimes.
Chapter 3: Bart Simpson, Punk icon
Focuses on Bart Simpson, extended mention of Sideshow Bob, Krusty, and Principal Skinner.
Chapter 4: Citizen Burns
Focuses on Mr. Burns, extended mention of Jack Larson, Reverend Lovejoy, Lindsey Naegle, Mayor Quimby, Waylon Smithers, Squeaky Voiced Teen, Chief Wiggum, and Wiseguy.
Chapter 5: Lisa Lionheart
Focuses on Lisa Simpson.
Chapter 6: Marge Knows Best
Focuses on Marge Simpson, extended mention of Ned Flanders and Grampa Simpson.
Chapter 7: The Simpsons in Cyberspace
Focuses on the Internet and its influences in the show and the shows influence on the Internet, extended mention of Comic Book Guy.
Chapter 8: The Ugly Springfieldianite
Focuses on The Simpsons in the United States and abroad, extended mention of Apu and Groundskeeper Willie.
Chapter 9: The Simpsons Go Hollywood
Focuses on the shows take on Hollywood, celebrities and the shows many guest stars, extended mention of Kent Brockman, Krusty, Troy McClure, and Rainier Wolfcastle.
Chapter 10: The Simpsons Through the Looking Glass
Focuses on the shows take on pop culture.
Chapter 11: Planet Simpson
The conclusion of the book.

Top 5 episodes

The end of the first chapter includes a look at the author's Top 5 episodes. Turner lists "Last Exit to Springfield" as his favourite episode. The other four episodes ordered by airdate: "Marge vs. the Monorail", "Rosebud", "Deep Space Homer" and "El Viaje Misterioso de Nuestro Jomer (The Mysterious Voyage of Homer)".{{harvnb|Turner|2004d|p=70}}; {{harvnb|Turner|2005b|p=70}}

Reception

Christopher Hirst of The Independent felt the book would largely appeal to fans of The Simpsons who would enjoy "Turner's critical intelligence and social awareness," while "non-fans will see 470 pages of geeky raving." He felt the book was "sui generis," and its "combination of motor-mouthed omniscience and voluminous footnotes is reminiscent of a certain style of highbrow writing about pop music."{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/paperbacks-dirk-bogardebrmaggie-her-fatal-legacybrplanet-simpsonbrlimeysbrall-the-wrong-placesbrvillage-of-stonebrfleshmarket-close-504246.html |title=Paperbacks: Dirk Bogarde, Maggie: Her fatal legacy, Planet Simpson, Limeys, All the Wrong Places, Village of Stone, Fleshmarket Close |work=The Independent |access-date=2011-01-16 |first=Christopher |last=Hirst |date=2005-08-26 |location=London}}{{dead link|date=August 2021|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} Curtis Gloade of The Record described the book as "almost 500 pages of this sort of meticulous, clear, and I believe, accurate rhetoric. It kept me nodding in agreement throughout. And laughing, too." He also wrote that he hopes people will not skip by the book at the bookstore because it is about The Simpsons and assume that it is "little more than a laugh-along-with-me book with lots of pictures and funny quotes." Gloade commented that this is "not the case. I laughed out loud regularly at the many Simpsons quotes, but that's only a small part of the total package." He concluded that Planet Simpson is an "enjoyable reading experience, one that will likely be matchless still for a long time because I highly doubt we'll see such a melding of a stellar pop culture icon (The Simpsons) and eloquent cultural critic (Turner) again for a long time." Kevin Jackson of The Times gave a largely negative review of the book. While feeling Turner's knowledge of the show was vast and finding much of the initial "less well-known aspects of Simpsonian pre-history" interesting, he overall felt the book was mostly "flimflam and filler" and criticised Turner's "gee-whiz prose and occasional lapses into plain old illiteracy" and ultimately failed to achieve the analytical goal Turner set: "It would take wit as keen and literary flair as supple as [the show's writers] to do justice to the show, and Turner is gifted with neither: he may think like Lisa, but he writes more like the Comic Book Guy."{{cite news |url=http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/article476681.ece |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110616004926/http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/article476681.ece |url-status=dead |archive-date=June 16, 2011 |title=Television: Planet Simpson by Chris Turner |date=2004-09-05 |first=Kevin |last=Jackson |work=The Times |location=London}}

Editions

class="wikitable"
Publishing date !Title !Edition !Tag !Imprint !Cover's Extras !Length
September 9, 2004 \|Planet Simpson: How a Cartoon Masterpiece Documented an Era and Defined a Generation \|1st \|UK \|Ebury Press \|Introduction by Douglas Coupland Power Screen Global Cult Pop Politics Music{{sfn\|Turner\|2004a\|loc=front cover}} \|472 pp.{{sfn\|Turner\|2004a}}
October 7, 2004 \|Planet Simpson: How a Cartoon Masterpiece Defined a Generation \|1st abridged \|USA \|HighBridge \|The first audio to bring witty, opinionated, in-depth analysis to the longest-running sitcom of all time and the most important pop-cultural phenomenon of our generation. Abridged; 12 hours on 10 compact discs. Read by Oliver Wyman.{{sfn\|Turner\|2004b\|loc=back cover}} \|12 hours{{sfn\|Turner\|2004b\|loc=back cover}}
October 12, 2004 \|Planet Simpson: How a Cartoon Masterpiece Documented an Era and Defined a Generation \|1st (original) \|CA \|Random House Canada \|Foreword by Douglas Coupland{{sfn\|Turner\|2004c\|loc=front cover}} \|466 pp.{{sfn\|Turner\|2004c}}
October 12, 2004 \|Planet Simpson: How a Cartoon Masterpiece Defined a Generation \|1st \|USA \|Da Capo Press \|Foreword by Douglas Coupland author of Generation X{{sfn\|Turner\|2004d\|loc=front cover}} \|464 pp.{{sfn\|Turner\|2004d}}
August 4, 2005 \|Planet Simpson: How a Cartoon Masterpiece Documented an Era and Defined a Generation \|1st revised \|UK \|Ebury Press \|Introduction by Douglas Coupland ‘This is a terrifically energetic book which, like its many-layered subject, will reward repeat consumption.’ THE GUARDIAN{{ref label\|the_guardian_citation\|A}}{{sfn\|Turner\|2005a\|loc=front cover}} \|480 pp.{{sfn\|Turner\|2005a}}
October 18, 2005 \|Planet Simpson: How a Cartoon Masterpiece Defined a Generation \|1st revised \|USA \|Da Capo Press \|"Quite simply, the definitive book about The Simpsons."—Q{{sfn\|Turner\|2005b\|loc=front cover}} \|464 pp.{{sfn\|Turner\|2005b}}
October 28, 2008 \|Planet Simpson: How a Cartoon Masterpiece Documented an Era and Defined a Generation \|1st revised with addition \|CA \|Vintage Canada \|Foreword by Douglas Coupland With a new afterword by the author{{sfn\|Turner\|2008\|loc=front cover}} \|576 pp.{{sfn\|Turner\|2008}}

class="wikitable"

Publishing date

!Title

!Edition

!Tag

!Imprint

!Cover's Extras

!Length

September 9, 2004

|Planet Simpson: How a Cartoon Masterpiece Documented an Era and Defined a Generation

|1st

|UK

|Ebury Press

|Introduction by Douglas Coupland
Power Screen Global Cult Pop Politics Music{{sfn|Turner|2004a|loc=front cover}}

|472 pp.{{sfn|Turner|2004a}}

October 7, 2004

|Planet Simpson: How a Cartoon Masterpiece Defined a Generation

|1st abridged

|USA

|HighBridge

|The first audio to bring witty, opinionated, in-depth analysis to
the longest-running sitcom of all time and the most important
pop-cultural phenomenon of our generation.
Abridged; 12 hours on 10 compact discs. Read by Oliver Wyman.{{sfn|Turner|2004b|loc=back cover}}

|12 hours{{sfn|Turner|2004b|loc=back cover}}

October 12, 2004

|Planet Simpson: How a Cartoon Masterpiece Documented an Era and Defined a Generation

|1st (original)

|CA

|Random House Canada

|Foreword by Douglas Coupland{{sfn|Turner|2004c|loc=front cover}}

|466 pp.{{sfn|Turner|2004c}}

October 12, 2004

|Planet Simpson: How a Cartoon Masterpiece Defined a Generation

|1st

|USA

|Da Capo Press

|Foreword by Douglas Coupland
author of Generation X{{sfn|Turner|2004d|loc=front cover}}

|464 pp.{{sfn|Turner|2004d}}

August 4, 2005

|Planet Simpson: How a Cartoon Masterpiece Documented an Era and Defined a Generation

|1st revised

|UK

|Ebury Press

|Introduction by Douglas Coupland
‘This is a terrifically energetic book which, like its many-layered
subject, will reward repeat consumption.’ THE GUARDIAN{{ref label|the_guardian_citation|A}}{{sfn|Turner|2005a|loc=front cover}}

|480 pp.{{sfn|Turner|2005a}}

October 18, 2005

|Planet Simpson: How a Cartoon Masterpiece Defined a Generation

|1st revised

|USA

|Da Capo Press

|"Quite simply, the definitive book about The Simpsons."—Q{{sfn|Turner|2005b|loc=front cover}}

|464 pp.{{sfn|Turner|2005b}}

October 28, 2008

|Planet Simpson: How a Cartoon Masterpiece Documented an Era and Defined a Generation

|1st revised
with addition

|CA

|Vintage Canada

|Foreword by Douglas Coupland
With a new afterword by the author{{sfn|Turner|2008|loc=front cover}}

|576 pp.{{sfn|Turner|2008}}

: A. {{note|the_guardian_citation}}Citation from article "Books previews: Saturday, 11 September 2004" (The Guardian).{{cite news |date=September 11, 2004 |first=Andrew |last=Mueller |author-link=Andrew Mueller |title=Planet Simpson [by] Chris Turner |type=Book preview |url=https://www.theguardian.com/theguide/books/story/0,,1300649,00.html |newspaper=The Guardian |location=London |access-date=2013-12-31}}

References

;Bibliography

{{cite book |last=Turner |first=Chris |author-link=Chris Turner (author) |title=Planet Simpson: How a Cartoon Masterpiece Documented an Era and Defined a Generation |others=Introduction by Douglas Coupland |edition=1st |date=September 9, 2004a |location=London |publisher=Ebury Press |oclc=56457550 |isbn=978-0-09-189756-7 |url=https://archive.org/details/planetsimpson0000turn }}
{{cite book |last=Turner |first=Chris |author-mask=2 |author-link=Chris Turner (author) |title=Planet Simpson: How a Cartoon Masterpiece Defined a Generation |others=Read by Oliver Wyman |type=Audiobook |edition=1st abridged |date=October 7, 2004b |location=Minneapolis |publisher=HighBridge |oclc=56882530 |isbn=978-1-56511-901-7 }}
{{cite book |last=Turner |first=Chris |author-mask=2 |author-link=Chris Turner (author) |title=Planet Simpson: How a Cartoon Masterpiece Documented an Era and Defined a Generation |others=Foreword by Douglas Coupland |edition=1st |date=October 12, 2004c |location=Toronto |publisher=Random House Canada |oclc=55682258 |isbn=978-0-679-31318-2}}
{{cite book |last=Turner |first=Chris |author-mask=2 |author-link=Chris Turner (author) |title=Planet Simpson: How a Cartoon Masterpiece Defined a Generation |others=Foreword by Douglas Coupland |edition=1st |date=October 12, 2004d |location=Cambridge |publisher=Da Capo Press |oclc=670978714 |isbn=978-0-306-81341-2 |url=https://archive.org/details/planetsimpsonhow00turn_0 }}
{{cite book |last=Turner |first=Chris |author-mask=2 |author-link=Chris Turner (author) |title=Planet Simpson: How a Cartoon Masterpiece Documented an Era and Defined a Generation |others=Introduction by Douglas Coupland |edition=1st revised |date=August 4, 2005a |location=London |publisher=Ebury Press |oclc=56457550 |isbn=978-0-09-190336-7 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/planetsimpson0000turn }}
{{cite book |last=Turner |first=Chris |author-mask=2 |author-link=Chris Turner (author) |title=Planet Simpson: How a Cartoon Masterpiece Defined a Generation |edition=1st revised |date=October 18, 2005b |location=Cambridge |publisher=Da Capo Press |oclc=670978714 |isbn=978-0-306-81448-8 |url=https://archive.org/details/planetsimpsonhow00turn }}
{{cite book |last=Turner |first=Chris |author-mask=2 |author-link=Chris Turner (author) |title=Planet Simpson: How a Cartoon Masterpiece Documented an Era and Defined a Generation |others=Foreword by Douglas Coupland, with a new afterword by the author |edition=1st revised and expanded |date=October 28, 2008 |location=Toronto |publisher=Vintage Canada |oclc=192053177 |isbn=978-0-307-35704-5 }}

External links

[http://www.planetsimpson.com/ Official website of the Author]

Category:Non-fiction books about The Simpsons

Category:2004 non-fiction books

Category:2005 non-fiction books

Category:2008 non-fiction books