Dilbert 2.0: 20 Years of Dilbert
by Scott Adams
|
List Price: Our Price: $32.99 You Save: $52.01 (61%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $27.09 (click here) Category: Book See more book details and other editions |
|---|
Book Reviews of Dilbert 2.0: 20 Years of Dilbert
Book Review: Is it really 20 years?!
Summary: 4 Stars
Dilbert has always seemed like a 'new' comic to me so it's quite a shock to find it's been 20 years. However for someone who left the corporate world in 2002 I've found this book invaluable not just to catch up on the last few years but also to remind myself why I left in the first place.
The introduction alone had me laughing, but it's very interesting to see a glimpse behind the curtain. Usually we never get to see how ultra-successful people in life REALLY did it. Having (finally) finished the book I can say that it definitely gets funnier as it goes along, to the point where I had to get up and allow my stomach to recover from laughing at the spinning business founder as generator one. But all these strips are available for free on the website, so why did I buy it?
I first discovered Dilbert via the Computer Weekly trade paper that was delivered to anyone with a PC in my office. I'd just moved from a small IT department in a family run business to a multi-national supermarket chain, and I was in complete shock at the way we were expected to work. But luckily there was a book shop nearby (remember those?) with plenty of Dilbert books. Slowly I picked up the Wisdom of Wally and managed to adapt and survive. My very last assignment (before I was politely asked if I'd like to hand in my resignation) was an MS Project schedule for a very large bid we were making...oh, by the way my department had been outsourced twice and I was working for someone else, yet still at the same desk at this point. Anyway I spent 2 months doing nothing but internet 'research', then spent the evening before the bid just randomly clicking about in MS Project, until I had 5 months of coloured blocks everywhere. I left the company a few weeks later. Recently I was contacted out of the blue by an IT recruitment agency asking if I was looking for work. Completely taken aback (I have run my own business for 6 years now and it's not even remotely IT related) I asked where they had got my name. Turned out the random schedule I had made was not only a bid winner but turned out to be the only IT project by a certain police force to ever come in earlier than expected, on budget and with virtually no additional support needed thanks to all the documentation and testing. My name was still on the original manuals as Project Organiser, hence why I was being contacted. So I thought I'd get this collection for old times sake, just a reminder of how absolutely stupid-fabulous my career in IT was.
(Only 4 stars because the author obviously did not have a pre-marketing consumer expectation report done, nor an executive committee for this book.)
Book Review: Fantastic Book for all Dilbert Fans...
Summary: 5 Stars
Dilbert is arguably (and in my opinion) the best daily comic strip currently being published. It will join the ranks as one of the best strips ever produced.
And this book is the greatest collection of Dilbert strips to date.
The book weighs in at over 9 lbs. It is cloth bound, hardcover with a beautiful slipcover. The paper is thick and high quality. The notes icluded about many of the strips are amusing and informative. In all, there are almost 2000 cartoons reproduced here.
But, as many have noted, this is not a complete collection of Dilbert cartoon (kind of...I'll get to the DVD shortly).
Many have pointed to the Deluxe and multi-volumed editions of Far Side and Calvin and Hobbes (which ARE complete sets) and complained about the shortcomings. Well, I don't think that those are necessarily fair comparisons. For starters, this comic is stoll being published. So, even on the release date, this type of set would NOT be complete. Secondly, Dilbert has a much greater catalog then then either of those 2 strips. At the time of publication, there were over 6500 Dilbert cartoons in existance (that was over 1 year ago, so we must be getting close to 7000 comics). Calvin and Hobbes had 3160. The Far Side had approximately 4300. So, even 1 year ago, there were more then DOUBLE the number of strips for Dilbert then there were for Calvin and Hobbes (which needed a 3 volume set).
So, this set would have needed 3-4 volumes (9 lbs each) to give us an up to date collection of cartoons. Although there is a precedent for this (witness the Peanuts set-all 17,897 strips, are being reprinted in an encyclopedic set which will requireabout 25 volumes to complete), this is not something that most comic strips can pull off unless they were relatively short lived (ie: Far side and Calvin and Hobbes). So, the publishers got around this by including all 6500+ strips to date (at time of publication) on a DVD that you can view on your computer. The set up is basic, but it fills in the gaps left by the book.
Someday, when this series is behind us, such an encyclopedic work will be done, but for now, this is the Dilbert collection for any enthusiest or casual fan. It is currently priced under $50, which is a good value (I was fortunate to get it from Amazon's gold box for $34-an absolute steal for a book of this quality).
Book Review: Ultimate Bang for your Buck
Summary: 5 Stars
I love Dilbert. It is my favorite single panel comic series. I don't remember how I got subscribed to their daily feed but I have been receiving it every day in my inbox since over a year now. Most people start their day with coffee - all I need is Dilbert. I guess I like it so much because I can identify with Dilbert to some extent. I believe all cubicle workers must feel the same way.
I received my copy of Dilbert 2.0 yesterday. I'd rate the product print and bind quality as top notch. This is a huge book, almost 2 inches thick (~600 pages) and very heavy. The book itself comes in a card board case. The image you see here on the product description page is that of the card board case. I'll try to put some pictures of the real product soon. I was very impressed with the overall quality of this book (especially considering the fact that Amazon regularly sells this for more than 50% off its MSRP). The pages are soft to touch and semi glossy. This book is divided into various segments of approximately 4-5 years each, namely The Early Years, The Dot Com Bubble, The Modern Era and such. The Introduction section was a pleasant surprise. Instead of the usual boring acknowledgments and inspirations and whatnots, Scott Adams decided to provide a flashback of how Dilbert came into existence. It's best if I don't reveal much here and simply say that I found it to be very readable, likable and funny. I haven't yet started reading the actual Dilbert comics yet but it doesn't really matter. All I wanted was to have my very own collection of the best of Dilbert. The included CD also has colorful images of the regular characters on top and is pretty to look at. I don't really plan on inserting it in my computer ever. I'm a fan of Dilbert/Scott Adams and I'm very happy with this purchase. Now I'm looking to score a good deal on Dilbert 6-Piece Action Figures Set.
Book Review: Dilbert 2.0, a must for every Dilbert fan!!
Summary: 4 Stars
Scott Adams has put together an almost ultimate collection of Dilbert for the twentieth anniversary of his workplace cartoon. The set contains a large hardcover book and a DVD. The book contains a history of Scott Adams' cartooning career from his earliest doodlings to early Dilbert cartoons to current panels. It includes feedback he received from publishers along with some personal notes he received early in his cartooning career. His history is interesting and touching. The stips are laid out logically from beginning to present. Along with the strips, the book contains commentaries detailing why Adams found the subject funny or what inspired him to draw/say what he did. (Adams did a similar take in the book "Seven Years Of Highly Defective People." It is a good companion to this, so don't toss it thinking you have the information in Dilbert 2.0.)
Why I say "an almost ultimate collection" is because the *book* does not contain all the published strips. There are entire weeks missing and several of the series are missing strips either making the story incomplete or cutting off part that makes that series funny. Though you'd have to read from beginning to end to notice this, it does detract from a collection that could--and should--have contained all the strips.
What will allow me to toss most of my old paperbacks is the included DVD containing all the strips to present day ("present day" being May 2008). They're sorted by date and in yearly folders. (A simple searchable database by business subject would have been helpful for quickly finding relevant items, but beggars can't be choosers.)
This is a good collection for all who like Dilbert and a great gift for any fan. It is well worth the (discounted) price I paid.
Book Review: Good Collection, but doesn't include all comics in Print
Summary: 4 Stars
Having been a fan of Dilbert since entering cubicle life some 10+ years ago, I was pretty excited when I saw that Scott Adams was giving us a collection of Dilbert all in one large volume, as opposed to the smaller volumes that had been published. I was thinking it would be awesome to have every Dilbert comic in print form.
Then I saw what this collection actually was; for those thinking this is a complete collection, it is but only with a caveat. Included with this book, which is a collection of Scott Adams' personal favorites and highly acclaimed strips, is a DVD that includes every strip ever produced at the point of the publication of the book. Every strip afterward they point you to the Dilbert website to view. So you get a complete collection of Dilbert strips, just not in print format.
The extra information Adams provides in the margins in regards to some of the strips is the equivalent of audio commentary on a DVD. It's nice to get some of the insider info on the thinking behind the strips. It's also fun to see some of the strips that had to be edited for newspapers in completely unedited format. So you see the censored comic and the uncensored original which is a treat.
I would have liked a little more information on the process of making the strips within the book itself, but what Adams includes, a brief history of the birth of Dilbert, is informative without being overwhelming.
A great collection, but perhaps not worth MSRP.