{"product_id":"pandemic-panacea-dan-hunter-9781737800705","title":"Pandemic Panacea: Laughing Through Quarantine","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003ePandemic Panacea\u003c\/i\u003e is a collection of cartoons juxtaposing old magazine photos with crisp new captions. These absurdist cartoons are reminiscent of Gary Larson. Each cartoon first appeared as a postcard sent to a friend to share a laugh.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOn March 12, 2020, I began self-isolation, sheltering from the Covid 19 pandemic. I set about on a bit of house cleaning, ran across a box of \u003ci\u003ePopular Mechanics\u003c\/i\u003emagazines from the 1940s and '50s. They were full of racy race cars, speed thrills, and most of all rampant hilarity. Not intentionally humorous but rendered absurd with the passing of decades.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSo, I started to cut out vintage photographs and images to Scotch tape to an index card. At first, the cards were oddities--the sweeping fins on the cars or the peculiar fashions. Then I started adding captions.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eI laughed more--an anti-pandemic laugh. Laughter is communal. So I decided to make other people laugh--write a caption, imagine a friend laughing, put a stamp on it, and send it off.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe first few months of isolation stretched into six months, 10 months, 12 months and more without a return to normal. I kept making postcards though--through the summer, into the fall and right into 2021. Eventually, I had sent a new postcard every day for a year, excluding Sundays.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe humor I drew from the old \u003ci\u003ePopular Mechanics\u003c\/i\u003eshifted during that time. I began to see each image as a moment in a story, tailoring the caption to capture the human characters in the scene: how did they reach this moment and why. Nothing is funnier than humans struggling through the comic absurdities of life.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eI laughed alone when I made the cards, but I could imagine the laughter of my friends. For a postcard moment, I wasn't alone.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Dan Hunter\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 1737800705\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781737800705\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Radio Ranch Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 09\/24\/2021\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 108\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.65lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.90h x 7.00w x 0.30d","brand":"Dan Hunter","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":43988678705407,"sku":"9781737800705","price":24.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_930c341a-5be8-44c2-a044-799c6735735e.jpg?v=1683295777","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/pandemic-panacea-dan-hunter-9781737800705","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}