‘Syllabus’: A book to get you back to the drawing board

In 'Syllabus,” Lynda Barry's charming, often insightful, always entertaining new work (Drawn and Quarterly $19.95), the cartoonist, writer, and educator poses a number of large questions: What is an image? Where does it come from? What is the relationship between the hand and the brain?

And while these questions may be daunting, Barry explores them with the charm and candor her readers have come to appreciate: 'When I start feeling too concerned that all the words I write be very smart and about something worthwhile, I find my urge to write replaced with an urge to draw monkeys.”

'Syllabus” is filled with monkeys (and chickens, and large, somehow friendly-looking, demons), but most importantly it's also filled with her remarkable lesson plans and writing instructions, making her inspiring curriculum available for students, teachers, and everyone in-between for the very first time. It seems her goal in teaching (and providing these exercises for public use) is not to produce the next generation of fine artists, but to teach participants to let go of their fears.

'Liking and not liking (a drawing) can make us blind to what's there. Despite how we feel about it, it is making its way from the unseen to the visible world, one line after the next, bringing with it a kind of aliveness I live for.”

But 'Syllabus” isn't just a collection of student drawings and assignments: Barry has crafted an intellectual narrative that connects each piece to the larger whole, resulting in a work that funny, inspiring, and simply remarkable. If it's been years since you picked up a crayon, or if you've never used a Staedtler non-photo blue pencil, get ready: By the time you're through this book, you'll be drawing. And you'll want to share Barry's method of drawing - and thinking - with a friend.