cover image Oh Skin-Nay!: The Days of Real Sport

Oh Skin-Nay!: The Days of Real Sport

. Drawn & Quarterly, $24.95 (136pp) ISBN 978-1-894937-92-4

Briggs is a masterful, if mostly forgotten, early 20th century cartoonist who is related to the Midwestern sentimentality of, say, Gasoline Alley's Frank King and the great illustrator Norman Rockwell. His work was nostalgic even for his contemporary audience, and his beautiful, quavering line always delineated an optimistic, fun and happy America. This book, a facsimile edition of a 1913 collaborative volume with the poet Wilbur D. Nesbit, captures life in small town America as viewed by a 12-year-old boy. Big, full page drawings sit across the pages from elegant verse, all in service to the idea of an ideal, eternal summer of the mind. Jeet Heer provides an informative essay, describing Briggs' life and times, and, as ever, the book itself is an exquisite object. Most of all, it serves as a reminder of a lighter time; those frustrated with the current American moment will find this a pleasant diversion.