Mrs Weber's Omnibus
Published on 25. October 2012
Book
Hardback
488 pages
978-0-224-09683-6 (ISBN)
Description
In May 1977 Posy Simmonds, an unknown young illustrator, started drawing a weekly comic strip for the Guardian. It began as a silly parody of girls' adventure stories, making satirical comments about contemporary life. The strip soon focused on three 1950s school friends in their later middle-class and nearly middle-aged lives: Wendy Weber, a former nurse married to polytechnic sociology lecturer George with a large brood of children; Jo Heep, married to whisky salesman Edmund with two rebellious teenagers; and Trish Wright, married to philandering advertising executive Stanhope and with a young baby. The strip, which was latterly untitled and usually known just as 'Posy', ran until the late 1980s.
Collected here for the first time are the complete strips. Although celebrated for pinpointing the concerns of Guardian readers in the 1980s and their constant struggle to remain true to the ideals of the 1960s, they are in fact remarkably undated. They show one of Britain's favourite cartoonists, celebrated for Literary Life and Tamara Drewe, maturing into genius.
Collected here for the first time are the complete strips. Although celebrated for pinpointing the concerns of Guardian readers in the 1980s and their constant struggle to remain true to the ideals of the 1960s, they are in fact remarkably undated. They show one of Britain's favourite cartoonists, celebrated for Literary Life and Tamara Drewe, maturing into genius.
Reviews / Votes
For Christmas I would like Mrs Webers' Omnibus please. -- Nicholas Lezard * Guardian * Easily the most charming thing in the Guardian ever. -- Roland White * Sunday Times * A satisfyingly fat collection of her old Guardian strips that will make you laugh out loud. -- Rachel Cooke * Observer * Posy Simmonds's Mrs Weber's Omnibus...collects her Guardian strips of the 70s and 80s about a scruffy, well-meaning Guardian-reading family and their friends... Her cosy in-jokes about middle-class silliness and her sharp political fury over sexual inequality and the divide between rich and poor remain remarkably undated. -- Justine Jordan * Guardian * Her dry humour and sharp line are combined with merciless observation on the foibles of the middle-classes...a comic genius who has stood the test of time. * Tatler *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Vintage Publishing
Dimensions
Height: 223 mm
Width: 266 mm
Thickness: 45 mm
Weight
1856 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-224-09683-6 (9780224096836)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Person
Posy Simmonds is the author of many books for adults and children, including Gemma Bovery, Lulu and the Flying Babies and Fred, the film of which was nominated for an Oscar. She has won international awards for her work, including the Grand Prix 2009 de la Critique Bande Dessine for Tamara Drewe. Both Gemma Bovery and Tamara Drewe have been made into successful feature films. She lives in London.