The Annotated Phantom Tollbooth

Norton Juster
Illustrated by Jules Feiffer
Annotated by Leonard S. Marcus

First of all the book is definitely a classic and one that should be carefully read by all. It contains a great deal of thought provoking material. And while the book was written in the 50's, there is a lot that can be related to today without much of a stretch.

Reading it for the first time in many decades, the first thing that struck me was the City of Reality. Which couldn't be seen at all. Because everyone was in such a hurry to get from one place to another that they didn't pay attention to what was around them, so it disappeared. And no one noticed. In today's society, people spend so much time talking on their cell phones, texting, tweeting and everything else while they move from place to place. They are oblivious to the world around them and it is amazing that things haven't started to disappear.

The annotations are interesting and deal with definitions and word origins, influences in existing literature and the history of the concepts, based largely on the author's original drafts. Even many of the illustrations are discussed with frames from the Feiffer strips and portions of other drawings from other artists.

The introduction was fascinating, tracing Juster's childhood and his career. The number of coincidences that played such a large part of his success, including his meeting of Jules Feiffer and his wife, is astounding. Placed in the historical context, it adds a depth to the story that makes it all the more interesting.

Knopf, 2011
284 pages
Gift from my sister.
This is a heavy book printed on glossy stock with very thick pages. I often tried to 'separate' the pages they were so thick. Glare was an issue. Annotations in a light blue, sometimes difficult to read.

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