Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far on Foot

by John Callahan Narrated by Joe Barrett

Overview

In 1972, at the age of 21, John Callahan was involved in a car crash that severed his spine and made him a quadriplegic. A heavy drinker since the age of 12 (alcohol had played a role in his crash), the accident could have been the beginning of a downward spiral. Instead, it sparked a personal transformation. After extensive physical therapy, he was eventually able to grasp a pen in his right hand and make rudimentary drawings. By 1978, Callahan had sworn off drinking for good, and begun to draw cartoons.

Over the next three decades, until his death in 2010, Callahan would become one of the nation's most beloved—and at times polarizing—cartoonists. His work, which shows off a wacky and sometimes warped sense of humor, pokes fun at social conventions and pushes boundaries. One cartoon features Christ at the cross with a thought bubble reading "T.G.I.F." In another, three sheriffs on horseback approach an empty wheelchair in the desert. "Don't worry," one sheriff says to another, "He won't get far on foot."

Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far on Foot recounts Callahan's life story, from the harrowing to the hilarious.

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Callahan, whose quirky and irreverent cartoons attract a national following, describes his life as a quadriplegic with mordant, relentless and utterly unsentimental humor. Even before the accident that left him paralyzed, Callahan was on a self-destructive trajectory. An adolescent alcoholic, a youth in rebellion against authority, including his adoptive parents and his church, the author had his life forever changed when at age 21 he became a quadriplegic. In the course of his long rehabilitation and his continuing struggles with alcoholism, his endurance was bolstered by self-directed humor. As his sense of himself reemerged, Callahan undertook a search for his birth mother and now enjoys a healing of the break with his adoptive parents and siblings. The 60 of his cartoons reproduced here illustrate his life in Portland, Ore., where he has ``twice the drive of the average able-bodied person.'' First serial to Mother Jones. (May)

From the Publisher

John Callahan doesn’t need feet to go far. He does it with guts, brains, fingers, and a wonderful sick sense of humor.” — National Lampoon

“Actually Callahan goes too far, and he’ll take you with him. ... He’ll move muscles you don’t know you have.” — Roy Blount, Jr.

“When people laugh like hell and then say, ‘That’s not funny,’ you can be pretty sure they’re talking about John Callahan.” — P.J. O’Rourke

P.J. O’Rourke

When people laugh like hell and then say, ‘That’s not funny,’ you can be pretty sure they’re talking about John Callahan.

Roy Blount

Actually Callahan goes too far, and he’ll take you with him. ... He’ll move muscles you don’t know you have.

National Lampoon

John Callahan doesn’t need feet to go far. He does it with guts, brains, fingers, and a wonderful sick sense of humor.

National Lampoon

John Callahan doesn’t need feet to go far. He does it with guts, brains, fingers, and a wonderful sick sense of humor.

P.J. O'Rourke

When people laugh like hell and then say, ‘That’s not funny,’ you can be pretty sure they’re talking about John Callahan.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940171446062
Publisher:	HighBridge Company
Publication date:	07/05/2018
Edition description:	Unabridged

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