NYT’s GRANT SNIDER Will Judge You By Your Bookshelf (and Longboxes)

In these unique times, everyone around the world is spending more time inside with their belongings, their collections, their books.

To that end, New York Times illustrator Grant Snider has a prescient book for these times with this week’s I Will Judge You By Your Bookshelf from Abrams ComicArts. The cartoonist digs into the the act of reading and writing, as well as the thought of collecting or even “hoarding” them as he himself admits to. Pulling from his own webcomic Incidental Comics with original material as well, Snider’s book is for bookworms by a bookworm.

Newsarama talked with Snider on the eve of I Will Judge You By Your Bookshelf‘s release, as he plans virtual book signings.

Newsarama: Grant, let’s ease into it – what are you working on today – besides this actual interview?

Grant Snider: Thank you for having me! I’m slowly settling into my new stay-at-home schedule during the pandemic. I went on a long walk at a local park this morning with my family (practicing social distancing, of course).

Now I’ll begin working on the book launch event presentation for I Will Judge You By Your Bookshelf. I’ll be speaking live via Zoom instead of to an in-person bookstore audience, which will be weird but fun. This afternoon I’ll work on my weekly Incidental Comic and start revising a new picture book about asking questions. If I get stuck, I’ll take a nap under a tree in my backyard.

Nrama: We’re talking about comics and bookshelves at a time when people are living in their homes and with their bookshelves now more than ever. As a bibliophile, how are you coping with it all?

Snider: Usually the library is my source of a constant stream of new books. But with the libraries closed, I’m revisiting all the great titles that have been gathering dust on my shelves. There are so many books I own where I got stuck a few chapters in and never finished. Most are novels and memoirs – it takes a lot of time and concentration for me to get into written fiction, and between work and parenting, concentration is hard to come by.

If the quarantine lasts long enough, I might even crack open my copy of Infinite Jest.

Nrama: In reading your book, I’m reminded of Rob Fleming from High Fidelity and the cultivation of his record collection. Would you say you’re a book collector?

Snider: I consider myself more of a book hoarder than a book collector, as I’m not very intentional in what books I accumulate.  Maybe “enthusiast” is a better word? From cheap, badly written children’s books my kids bring home, to heavy, odd art books I find at used book sales, my stack of books is mostly illustrated and highly disorganized.

But my collector’s impulse kicks in whenever I find a mid-century picture book or an old New Yorker cartoon collection for a few dollars at a garage sale. I love unexpected visual references I can imitate in future comics.

Nrama: The title of this book is about judging people by their bookshelves… so what do you look for when trying to size up a person based on their order to all things?

Snider: Another person’s shelf is a window into their soul. I don’t care so much about how their shelf is organized as what titles are on it. Is their shelf a humble brag, with difficult classics scattered throughout? Is it purely for enjoyment, packed with mass-market mystery and romance paperbacks? Or is it an unusual mix of books of all shapes, sizes, and literary styles?

Sure, a shelf can hint at one’s hobbies, politics, and education. But when it reflects a facet of the reader’s personality you don’t necessarily get in a casual conversation – that’s what I find most interesting.

Nrama: And since we’re a comics journalism site, how would you view the best way to organize comics – not just graphic novels and collections, but single issues? How many long boxes are too many?

Snider: My favorite way to organize comics: throw everything together in a random assortment. That way, when you are looking for something specific, you’ll stumble upon a comic you forgot you owned, forget what you were looking for entirely, and go down a rabbit hole of exploration.

Nrama: What do you think of the ‘literary’ air of some comic books, or that construct that people put on comics, graphic novels, sequential art, or what have you?

Snider: I think it’s wonderful. Why put limits on what comics can be? There should be room on the shelf for the latest highfalutin monograph by a renowned graphic novelist alongside a xeroxed homemade zine sold for a few bucks at the local comics shop. There should be an exchange of ideas at all levels of cartooning. It’s all lines, panels, and words on paper after all.

My seven-year-old daughter gets the same enjoyment out of reading the latest Raina Telgemeier graphic novel as I get from poring over a David Mazzucchelli magnum opus. Which is the same joy I just got laughing at a Poorly Drawn Lines webcomic on Instagram as I took a break from this interview to glance at my phone.

Nrama: What do you think about the various packaging, printing, paper stocks of comics and graphic novels. Any that stick out to you, or evoke a certain charm?

Snider: The default for me growing up was the newspaper comics strip collections like Calvin and Hobbes and The Far Side, where they collected a year or two worth of strips, maybe with some artist commentary mixed in. They hold a special place on my shelf, even though they’re falling apart from cheap production and overuse.

Maybe my favorite comic book right now is the Sunday Press edition of Sundays with Walt and Skeezix. It reprints Gasoline Alley Sunday strips at their original size. The book is huge! And makes me long for a time when comics had more space to breathe than on an iPhone screen.

I also love the books of contemporary cartoonist Jon McNaught, published by Nobrow Press. The ink is so thick you can smell it.

Nrama: This is about a love of books, and you’re a webcomic creator – and now more than ever people might read this book we’re here today talking about digitally if they can’t get out to a bookstore. How does your love of books and collecting translate to digital?

Snider: I’ll always have an affinity for printed words and pictures. The texture of the paper, the trim size, the boldness of the colors give each book a personality of its own. That said, the digital world allows readers to see work from all over the world they may never otherwise have been exposed to. It opens the floodgates of literary and artistic influence. And maybe it will inspire people to buy more books, so they can hold and flip through the same comic they retweeted.