BOBC

The Autobiography of a Freshman – Here Capp covers his desperation over the loss of one leg.

Memories of Miss Maundebam – This essay was first published in The Atlantic, 1951. Capp talks about his school days in the early 1920’s, where he first found local fame for his drawing skills.

My Well-Balanced Life on a Wooden Leg – This is one of the very best essays, in which Capp discusses (from a retro-perspective) how the loss of one leg affected him as a child: “A teenager wants more than anything else in life to look, act and be treated like all other teenagers. On the first two counts I did fine. I am sure that I looked and behaved as oddly as all the other teenagers at Cenrtral High, Bridgeport, Connecticut, where I then lived. But I got different and special treatment, especially from the girls, and that made life hell for me. My rooster roughness and rowdiness was forgiven with sweet understanding, when what I wanted was the same thrilled contempt that was accorded two-legged rowdies for the same behavior.”

The Decisions Regarding Aunt Miriam – More childhood memories, this time dealing with how young Capp and his brothers suddenly changed their opinion on their stern aunt due to a most human revelation.

Short Skirts – Capp’s entrance into puberty, as well as his first sexual experience … or almost so.

The Campaign Against Rhoda Turner – An hilarious recollection of when Capp and a couple of friends, then in their late teens, constantly lied to one another about recent experiences with girls, eventually forcing them into a situation they wouldn’t forget so soon.

Young Van Schuyler’s Greatest Romance – Capp discusses how he, for the only time in his life, was able to hide his handicap to a girlfriend.

I Remember Monster – Capp talks about his earliest days as a cartoonist, when he ghosted the Joe Palooka-strip for Ham Fisher, a man with whom things didn’t turn out so well in the end.

Confessions of a Non-Alcoholic – Capp confesses to possess the terrible flaw of not being addicted to alcohol.

My Life as an Immortal Myth – First published in Time Magazine, 1965. Covers the story of when Capp was invited over to Italy to be celebrated as, in the words of director Alain Resnais, an “immortal myth,” as well as the “sophistication and universality of Li’l Abner.” Among the funniest stories in the book, and also interesting as it provides insight as to how differently comic strips were regarded in Europe than the US during the 60’s.