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Books

Silk Road to Ruin: Is Central Asia the New Middle East?
Essays and Graphic Novellas, 2006
NBM Hardback, 6"x9", 304 pp., $22.95

Comprising travelogue, political analysis and five graphic novellas, SILK ROAD TO RUIN is the book Ted Rall wanted to write in lieu of TO AFGHANISTAN AND BACK: a comprehensive look at what he calls the "New Middle East" -- the part of the world the United States will focus upon in the near future. SILK ROAD TO RUIN, featuring an introduction by "Taliban" author Ahmed Rashid, includes 200 pages of essays about everything from oil politics to the wild sport of buzkashi and 100 pages of graphic novel -- format comics about five of his trips to the region.

Elderly Central Asians are starving to death in nations sitting atop the world’s largest untapped reserves of oil and natural gas. Looters are cavalierly ambling around in flatbed trucks loaded with disinterred nuclear missiles. Statues of and slogans by crazy dictators are springing up as quickly as their corrupt military policemen can rob a passing motorist. And on the main drag in the capital city of each of these profoundly dysfunctional societies, a gleaming American embassy whose staff quietly calls the shots in a new campaign to de-Russify access to those staggering energy resources.

CIA agents, oilmen and prostitutes mix uneasily and awkwardly in ad hoc British-style pubs where beers cost a dollar -- a day’s pay and more than enough to keep out the locals. In an extreme case of the "oil curse," wealth is being pillaged by U.S.-backed autocrats while their subjects plunged into poverty. Meanwhile Taliban-trained Islamic radicals are waiting to fill the vacuum.

It is a volatile mix. But does anybody care?

Transformed by what he saw being done in America's name and eager to sound the alarm, Rall went back to remote Central Asia again and again. He returned to visit the region's most rural mountain villages. He brought two dozen ordinary Americans on the bus tour from hell. He went as a rogue independent and as a guest of the State Department. He returned to cover the American invasion of Afghanistan after 9/11, then went back again. Capitals moved, street names changed and the economic fortunes of entire nations turned on a dime from year to the next, but those changes merely reinforced Rall’s firm belief that Central Asia is the new Middle East: thrilling, terrifying, simultaneously hopeful and bleak, a battleground for proxy war and endless chaos. It is the ultimate tectonic, cultural and political collision zone. Far away from television cameras and Western reporters, Central Asia is poised to spawn some of the new century’s worst nightmares.

Pre-order now through Amazon.





Attitude 3: The New Subversive Online Cartoonists
Anthology of Webcartoonists, 2006
NBM Paperback, 8.5"x11", 128 pp., $13.95

In keeping with the format of the first two volumes in the ATTITUDE series of comics anthologies, ATTITUDE 3 includes cartoons by, interviews with and personal ephemera (like childhood photos) of each creator. Featured are innovative artists who focus on politics, others on social commentary and still more who are out to make you laugh. Find out why webcomics are the hottest new comics around through this primer to some of the medium's brightest talents!

Includes: Rob Balder: "Partially Clips" 2. Dale Beran and David Hellman: "A Lesson is Learned But the Damage is Irreversible" 3. Matt Bors: "Idiot Box" 4. Steven L. Cloud: "Boy on a Stick and Slither" 5. M.e. Cohen: "HumorInk" 6. Chris Dlugosz: "Pixel" 7. Thomas K. Dye: "Newshounds" 8. Mark Fiore: "Fiore Animated Cartoons" 9. Dorothy Gambrell : "Cat and Girl" 10. Nicholas Gurewitch: "The Perry Bible Fellowship" 11. Brian McFadden: "Big Fat Whale" 12. Eric Millikin: "Fetus-X" 13. Ryan North: "Daily Dinosaur Comics" 14. August J. Pollak: "XQUZYPHYR" & "Overboard" 15. Mark Poutenis: "Thinking Ape Blues" 16. Jason Pultz: "Comic Strip" 17. Adam Rust: "Adam's Rust" 18. D.C. Simpson: "I Drew This" & "Ozy and Millie" 19. Ben Smith: "Fighting Words" 20. Richard Stevens: "Diesel Sweeties" 21. Michael Zole: "Death to the Extremist"

Order now through Amazon.





Wake Up, You're Liberal!: How We Can Take America Back from the Right
Political Manifesto (All prose, no cartoons), 2004
Soft Skull Press Paperback, 6"x9", 336 pp., $15.95

Declaring that there hasn't been a "real" Democrat in the White House since Lyndon Johnson, Ted Rall decries the hijacking of the government by right-wingers and the seeming powerlessness of the left to stop them. Wake Up, America! You're Liberal! features his trademark no-holds-barred invective. Rall, seeing the left in disarray, tells liberal Americans how to organize a vibrant, relevant alternative to rightist rule and make life better for vast numbers of people in the process. In fact, he says, in order to enjoy the mainstream majority status they deserve, liberals must strive to create a viable American left centered around an effective Democratic party.

Why is the American left in disarray and can anything be done about it? That question has haunted progressives and others who care about democracy for several decades. With the hard-right faction of the Republican Party in control of Congress, the White House and Supreme Court, the revitalization of the left in general and the Democratic Party in general is more pressing than ever.

WAKE UP, YOU'RE LIBERAL is the result of several years of research. I examined hundreds of polls of voter attitudes, talked to numerous political experts and ordinary Americans and studied media coverage of the two major parties to come up with a theoretical new political party--one that would synthesize the liberal, conservative and libertarian impulses that drive the overwhelming majority of U.S. citizens, regardless of their party affiliation.

What I found was startling. On most issues, Americans--even Republicans--tend to favor values that could be best described as liberal. They fail to support candidates that agree with them on these issues, however, when they perceive hypocrisy or inconsistency in those men and women.

I expect that readers on the left and right will be equally surprised by much of what I have to say here, but I'm not a polemicist. This book is my political magnum opus, my first attempt to present my vision for the country and its people in the hope of restoring a vibrant dialogue between people who differ on everything but what matters most: doing what's best for America.

Oh, and for those who care about such things: this book is all prose, no cartoons.

Order now through Amazon.





Generalissimo El Busho: Essays and Cartoons on the Bush Years
Essays and Cartoons, 2004
NBM Hardback, 6"x9", $19.95
NBM Paperback, 6"x9", $13.95

Ted Rall is best known for saying today what will become conventional wisdomtomorrow. His GENERALISSIMO EL BUSHO is the ultimate chronicle of the mostpolarizing presidency in modern American history, a brilliantly tragicomicweek-by-week dissection of the Bush Administration's follies and crimes as seen byAmerica's most courageous editorial cartoonist and political writer.

Ted Rall, who has traveled and reported from the world's hottest troublespots, recognizes a dictator when he sees one. And he doesn't scare easily. Havingseized power extraconstitutionally, Bush and his cabal of corrupt businessmenmade it obvious that they intended to rule with ruthless zeal. Unlike most ofhis fellow journalists, however, Rall refused to be cowed--even in the wakeof 9/11. Others came out of the woodwork during 2003, but Ted Rall's ferociousdenunciations of our ersatz president and his assaults on our preciousfreedoms stood virtually alone during the flag-waving weeks and months following theattacks on New York and Washington. And unlike every other commentator, Rallused two different forms of media--cartoons and essays--to speak brutallyhonest truth to power even as he fended off death threats.

Brave, uncompromising and fiercely devoted to traditional American values offreedom and integrity, Ted Rall's GENERALISSIMO EL BUSHO collects the best ofhis hilarious cartoons and brutally honest essays during the Bush years.

To preorder the hardback: Amazon
To preorder the paperback: Amazon





Attitude 2: The New Subversive Alternative Cartoonists
Anthology of Alternative Weekly Cartoonists, 2004
NBM Paperback, 8.5"x11", 128 pp., $13.95

A new anthology of brilliant cartoonists whose work appears in alternative weekly newspapers, ATTITUDE 2: THE NEW SUBVERSIVE ALTERNATIVE CARTOONISTS presents incisive interviews, personal photos and ephemera and of course lots of cartoons by 21 more of America's funniest and smartest cartoonists! Comics fans will doubtless be familiar and enjoy this book's unique insight into the work of well-known artists like Aaron McGruder, who draws the daily comic strip "Boondocks," Max Cannon ("Red Meat," which you'll find in The Onion), Shannon Wheeler ("Too Much Coffee Man"), Marian Henley ("Maxine!"), David Rees ("Get Your War On," which appears in Rolling Stone) and Alison Bechdel ("Dykes to Watch Out For"). As with the first ATTITUDE, the real treat of ATTITUDE 2 is its spotlighting of cartoonists whose work is so good that it deserves much more attention. Other cartoonists featured include Jennifer Berman ("Berman"), Barry Deutsch ("Ampersand"), Emily S. Flake ("Lulu Eightball"), Justin Jones (Soda-Pong"), Keith Knight ("The K Chronicles), Tim Kreider ("The Pain -- When Will It End?"), Kevin Moore ("In Contempt Comics"), Stephen Notley ("Bob the Angry Flower"), Eric Orner ("The Mostly Unfabulous Social Life of Ethan Green"), Greg Peters ("Suspect Device"), Mikhaela B. Reid ("The Boiling Point"), Neil Swaab ("Rehabilitating Mr. Wiggles"), Brian Sendelbach ("Smell of Steve, Inc."), Tak Toyoshima ("Secret Asian Man") and Jason Yungbluth ("Deep Fried")

The first ATTITUDE, which came out in 2002, focused on alternative cartooning with a political bent. Though ATTITUDE 2 doesn't eschew politics, its main target is those cartoonists out to make us laugh using novel approaches to humor and the comics medium.

Order now through Amazon.





Gas War: The Truth Behind the American Occupation of Afghanistan
Current Events Expose, 2003
Writer Club Paperback, 6"x9", 140 pp., $10.95

Here's the book George W. Bush doesn't want you to read! Ted Rall's new GAS WAR: THE TRUTH BEHIND THE AMERICAN OCCUPATION OF AFGHANISTAN (136 pp., $10.95) is now available. Certain to become one of the most controversial books of the year and the result of painstaking research and analysis, GAS WAR proves that the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan was solely motivated by the Bush Administration's desire to control Caspian Sea oil and gas reserves--specifically, to establish a U.S. puppet regime that would permit the construction of a gas pipeline from Turkmenistan to Pakistan via Afghanistan. It's also the first comprehensive look at the Trans-Afghanistan Pipeline project conceived by Unocal Corporation during the 1990s and its revival under the Hamid Karzai regime. Every American should know that the "war on terrorism" is a fraud, that they're far less safe than they were before 9/11 and that their armed forces were misused for a misguided attempt to line the pockets of Bush Administration cronies. Timely, hard-hitting and sure to be talked about, GAS WAR is a must for anyone who cares about the effects of American foreign policy. Includes cartoons, charts and maps.

Order now through Amazon.





To Afghanistan and Back: A Graphic Travelogue
Essays and Cartoons, 2002
NBM Hardback, 6"x9", 128 pp., $15.95
NBM Paperback, 6"x9", 129 pp., $9.95

When bombs began falling on the Taliban in the fall of 2001, Ted traveled to Afghanistan where he spent three weeks covering the U.S. bombing campaign for The Village Voice newspaper in New York and KFI-AM, a Los Angeles radio station. In daily dispatches that reviewers from The Washington Post and The Nation called "excellent" and "the best war reporting from Afghanistan by an American journalist," Ted portrayed the horrors of war, the dangerous direction of U.S. intervention and the hazards faced by war correspondents in a conflict that became the most lethal in modern history. Ted entered Afghanistan in a convoy of 45 journalists, of whom three were killed.

Ted has been writing and reporting extensively from Central Asia and Afghanistan since 1997 - his voyage to Afghanistan was his fifth trip to the region - and was one of the first American journalists to note the importance of the Central Asia to American corporate and political interests. TO AFGHANISTAN AND BACK is a comprehensive look at the U.S. bombing campaign, its effects on ordinary people, the politics of the region and how the war and its aftermath affect Americans. TO AFGHANISTAN AND BACK incorporates both new and reprinted war reports for The Village Voice and international syndication, as well as editorial cartoons and photos from the front never published anywhere else. TO AFGHANISTAN AND BACK was called "an important work" by the Library Journal. This title has been updated and revised in the aftermath of the war in Iraq.

To order the hardback:
Amazon or directly from NBM Publishing.
To order the paperback:
Amazon or directly from NBM Publishing.






Attitude: The New Subversive Political Cartoonists
Anthology of Alternative Weekly Cartoonists, 2002
NBM Paperback, 8.5"x11", 128 pp., $13.95

ATTITUDE: THE NEW SUBVERSIVE POLITICAL CARTOONISTS is the first attempt to present the vibrant form of alternative weekly political cartooning, which first came to prominence during the '80s and '90s, to American readers. ATTITUDE focuses on 21 artists whose work epitomizes alternative-weekly political cartooning.

Ted, who edited this anthology, wrote in the introduction: "These artists work in the netherworld between facile categorizations. Because they're passionate and strident, they're too alternative for mainstream daily papers. But they're not always considered alternative by the artsy crowd because they're articulate and actually care about ordinary people's concerns. Perhaps because they defy easy labeling, they're creating the most interesting work in cartooning today, and it's an honor to help present this new genre to the public."

ATTITUDE includes cartoons by: Tom Tomorrow ("This Modern World"), Peter Kuper ("Eye of the Beholder"), Ruben Bolling ("Tom the Dancing Bug"), Lloyd Dangle ("Troubletown"), Andy Singer ("No Exit"), Don Asmussen ("San Francisco Comic Strip"), Clay Butler ("Sidewalk Bubblegum"), Jen Sorensen ("Slowpoke"), Scott Bateman, Tim Eagan ("Deep Cover" and "Subconscious Comics"), Derf ("The City"), Lalo Alacaraz ("La Cucaracha"), Joe Sharpnack, Eric Bezdek ("Corn Valley"), William L. Brown ("Citizen Bill"), Ward Sutton ("Schlock 'n' Roll"), Stephanie McMillan ("Minimum Security"), Mickey Siporin ("America Outta Line"), Jim Siergey ("Cultural Jet Lag"), Ted Rall ("Search and Destroy"), & Matt Wuerker ("Lint Trap"). In addition, Ted Rall interviewed each artist and asked them to submit ephemera from their personal lives. "Cartooning fans will love ATTITUDE," says Rall. "It's a rare opportunity to meet the personalities as well as their work."

The Iowa City Gazette calls ATTITUDE "a fascinating look at the minds behind some of the most caustic commentary of modern society and politics."

To order: Amazon or directly from NBM Publishing.





2024: A Graphic Novel
Graphic Novel, 2001
NBM Hardback, 6"x9", 96 pp., $16.95
NBM Paperback, 6"x9", 96 pp., $9.95

"2024" is a homage to/parody of/updating of George Orwell's classic novel of totalitarian oppression "1984" that faithfully follows the structure of Orwell's work with a totally new take on contemporary social trends--as the new millennium begins, the art of progonistication begins here!

Amazon.com picked "2024" as one of its best books of the year. Here's what they said: "Combining the most depressing aspects of Orwell's 1984 and Huxley's Brave New World, Ted Rall's 2024 shows us where turn-of-the-century corporate America is heading if we don't collectively wake up. Yet, like most of Rall's work, it's not a downer. Even when the reader sees a not-so-twisted reflection of his or her own life in Winston and Julia's horrifying misadventures in neopostmodern "Canamexicusa," it's usually more of a belly laugh than a gut punch. Tearing away at the shrouds of irony that keep us from experiencing our lives more directly for all their faults, Rall captures the essence of our reactions to soft oppression by having his characters repeat the mantra "Yes. No. Whatever." If the best criticism is satire, then 2024 is as good as it gets."

To order the hardback: Amazon or directly from NBM Publishing.
To order the paperback: Amazon or directly from NBM Publishing.





Search and Destroy: Cartoons by Ted Rall
Cartoon Collection, 2001
Andrews & McMeel Paperback, 8"x8", 160 pp., $16.95

A must for any fan of hard-hitting political and social-commentary cartooning, "SEARCH AND DESTROY: CARTOONS BY TED RALL" collects Ted's best 150 syndicated cartoons from 1995 to 2000 on everything from the disappointments of the Clinton era to popular music to the dot-com boom to, as usual, screwed-up relationships. "Search and Destroy" includes an introduction by word.com/"Gig" author John Bowe and a preface by Ted himself, as well as extensive commentary to explain and accompany each cartoon.

To order: Amazon





Revenge of the Latchkey Kids: An Illustrated Guide to Surviving the '90s and Beyond
Generation X Manifesto in Essays and Cartoons, 1998
Workman Hardback, 7"x10", 224 pp., $18.95
Workman Paperback, 7"x10", 224 pp., $10.95

REVENGE OF THE LATCHKEY KIDS documents Generation X as it enters marriage, parenthood and, God forbid, responsibility. Previously titled KILL YOUR PARENTS BEFORE THEY KILL YOU (before bookstores made clear they wouldn't carry it), REVENGE OF THE LATCHKEY KIDS is an illustrated 224-page manifesto for surviving the 90's and beyond, with 24 chapters of edgy insight, personal histories, advice and cartoons. It is, in the words of Jules Feiffer (who wrote the introduction), "a spicy stew of high-handed judgments, part drawing, part essay, part memoir-confession, part tantrum. The text is the thing. Funny, fractious here and there, nasty now and then, brilliant." Among topics on Ted's mind are "College is for Suckers," "Gen Xploitation," "Making the Most of Your Parents' Divorce," "Relationship Tips for the Sexless," and in a rallying cry only a true subversive could love, "Bring On The Stock Market Crash." Salon.com reviewed this book and called Ted "one of the best political cartoonists in America." Also includes Ted's seminal essays on work and other subjects for Dave Eggers' MIGHT magazine.

To order the hardback: Amazon
To order the paperback: Amazon




My War with Brian
Graphic Novel, 1998
NBM Paperback, 6"x9", 64 pp., $8.95

Ted's second graphic novel, the semiautobiographical MY WAR WITH BRIAN, was nominated for an Eisner Award for its staggeringly honest portrait of junior-high school brutality. Set in suburban Ohio during the 1970s, MY WAR WITH BRIAN exposes the experience of being bullied - and what happens when you fight back.

Booklist says: "Known for his acerbic political cartoons, Rall turns his caustic gaze inward in an autobiographical graphic novel about his misery in junior high in suburban Ohio. He was an alienated nerd, tormented by a loutish, psychotic bully who, for no apparent reason, chose Rall as his personalvictim. Teachers and other adults refused to help Rall, leaving him to deal with Brian through violence that started out defensive but gradually turned sadistically vengeful. The escalating battle forced Rall into an ultimate assault that he then saw as the only way to prevent being marked as a victim for the rest of his life. Two decades later, a more introspective Rall ponders the lasting effect of Brian's harassment on his personality. To this day, Rall's behavior remains confrontational and defensive; he wonders whether his superior attitude prompted the bully's abuse. Rall's memoir is fueled by the bitterness and anger that inform his editorial cartoons and sports their vaguely cubist figures and distinctive scratchboard technique that makes them look like punk woodcuts."

To order: Amazon or directly from NBM Publishing.





Real Americans Admit: The Worst Thing I've Ever Done!
Graphic Novel, 1996
NBM Paperback, 8.5"x11", 64pp., $8.95

Ted's first graphic novel also won the first annual Firecracker Alternative Book Award in 1997. Critically-acclaimed graphic novel-format depiction of Americans' true confessions, their answer to Ted's question: "What's the worst thing you've ever done?" The answer to that simple question, as Ted writes, helps define what and who we are. Warning: includes imagery and description of acts that some people may find disturbing, such as cruelty to animals and murder.

To order: Amazon or directly from NBM Publishing.





All The Rules Have Changed
Cartoon Collection, 1995
Rip Off Press Paperback, 8.5"x11", 96 pp., $9.95

Ted's second collection of cartoons, mainly including work from 1992 to 1995, including many editorial and full-page cartoons not published elsewhere. Fetishists of such matters will note that Dave Eggers (McSweeney's, A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius) designed the front and back cover. Unfortunately, Rip Off Press published this beauty in the middle of the Great Comics Distribution Meltdown of 1995, and only a few hundred copies were ever distributed before the print run was pulped.

Alternative Press Review called ATRHC "a great collection of stuff - from cynical to radical, from witty to nasty, but all coming down hard on corporate America and the layers of illusion it promotes and sells as reality. Rall's is a topsy turvy world in the worthy tradition of the Ranters, antinomians and Luddites of other eras."

Copies occasionally show up in used bookstores and on eBay, and Ted brings them with him to public appearances. For all practical purposes this book is out-of-print and not available; however, Rip Off Press currently lists the title on their website. Once there, use their search engine to search for "Ted Rall."





Waking Up in America
Cartoon Collection, 1992
St. Martin's Paperback, 6"x9", 128 pp., $6.95

Ted's first book is a collection of his editorial cartoons that span the period from 1988 to 1992. He was experimenting with different styles during that period before being picked up for syndication and the look of these cartoons varies wildly. Not helping matters is the atrocious reproduction quality; St. Martin's Press didn't set their photostat machine at the proper exposure, causing many cartoons to appear with moray patterns. Even syndication dates were left on some of the pages! A really shoddy effort, but of interest to Rallophiles.

WAKING UP isn't as difficult to find as ATRHC--it was widely distributed and sold fairly well at the time, but at this point it has been long out-of-print and the only chance of picking it up would be online or at one of Ted's public appearances.