The Book of Terns, Second edition

Ternaround Press, 2010. Paperback. New. The Book of Terns, Michael C. Witte and Peter Delacorte's brilliant, epic, and mind-boggling compendium of bad puns and great drawings, is back! This title was first published in 1978 by Penguin Books and reprinted a number of times. Long out of print, The Book of Terns reterns with a vengeance, with a spiffy new cover and several never-before-seen cartoons to accompany the old favorites.

The Book of Terns was a collaboration with artist Michael C. Witte--an exhibition of Witte's extraordinary virtuosity more than anything else. The idea was simple: lots of puns involving the aquatic birds in question. Tern of the Century, Retern of the Native, A Big Ternout, Point of No Retern. Witte drew each page in a different style, all of which are wonderful.

Peter Delacorte was born in New York and, fleeing oppression, moved to San Francisco in 1971. Alas, there was oppression in San Francisco too, but the summers were cooler and he could find a place to park. His novel Time on My Hands was short-listed for the Arthur C. Clarke Award and was called "definitely...a masterwork" by a man at the laundromat. Delacorte lives on Potrero Hill with his wife, Bonnie, and their dog, Doxy, who believes foghorns are the spawn of the devil. rn

Michael C. Witte is one of America's preeminent comic illustrators. Witte is a native of St. Louis and was Art Editor of his university's humor magazine. After flunking out his senior year (he eventually returned to graduate), Witte moved to New York City where he serendipitously discovered that a market existed for his non-academic talents. His work has since appeared in national publications such as The New Yorker, TIME, Harper's, The Atlantic, The New Republic, Rolling Stone, Forbes, Fortune, Money, Business Week, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal and New York Magazine among many others.
The recipient of numerous art direction awards, Witte has also garnered a PAGE ONE Award from the Newspaper Guild of New York and consecutive National Headliner Awards as America's top illustrator.