Baby Blue

Paul Newman, The Man Behind the Baby Blues: His Secret Life Exposed
$26.95
I found myself thumbing through this fictional, trashy expose of the late, great actor Paul Newman's life. How much of it is factual? Perhaps maybe 2% or less, since Porter has invented situations and dialogue to match that border on the absurd. Never once does he really comment on Newman's art or preparation in his numerous roles. Rather he focuses more on the sexual escapades that Newman purportedly iniates with his co-stars, be they male or female. One outrageous comment he states in the book is that both Henry Fonda and James Stewart were both serviced by the same agent!! I bet Hank and Jimmy would be cracking up at this in their graves at this outrageous comment. Actually I think the book really gives you more about Porter's cynicism about Hollywood and himself than about Newman. His belief is that in order to rise to the top, you either have to had sex with someone at the top or know an executive who is gay. Most of the time Porter delights in outing various actors like George Peppard, Marlon Brando, etc. After thumbing thru this trashy book, I conclude that Porter himself is gay and reminscent of one of the characters in the play, "The Boys in the Band". Only recommended to those who read trash like The National Enquirer.

The Day Phonics Kicked In: Baby Blues Goes Back to School
$12.99
I'm posting this at the top level so it would be more easily found(I posted part of this also as a comment).

Sorry if you were confused. We tried to make it as plain as possible on the cover by saying "BABY BLUES GOES BACK TO SCHOOL" and "SELECTED CARTOONS BY RICK KIRKMAN & JERRY SCOTT." I don't know how else to say it without putting a bunch of other copy on the cover. "Selected" means just that: we selected cartoons--it wasn't a chronological collection.

The descriptive copy here on Amazon says: "In this, the 24th Baby Blues Scrapbook collection, Rick Kirkman and Jerry Scott have scoured their archives for the very best of the Baby Blues school- and education-related strips." That's also a pretty clear explanation. You'll also notice that the book is not numbered (all chronological collections by Andrews McMeel since the 4th book are numbered). I'll see if I can get the description to drop the "24th Baby Blues Scrapbook collection"--that is definitely an error on the part of the publisher.

Neither we or Andrews McMeel are in this to rip anyone off. That would be a ridiculously stupid business practice. We have tried to make this new type of book clear. Maybe we'll look into using a different shape next time. The only problem with that is if you do that, it changes the number of pages you end up with and may not fitting with the publisher's setup.

Any other suggestions for how to differentiate something like this would be appreciated. We plan to do other "theme" books in the future. Thanks.

P.S. In order to post this, I had to add a star rating, but note that I didn't rate it any higher than the other highest ratings.

I Thought Labor Ended When The Baby Was Born (Baby Blues Scrapbook)
$10.95
If you love Baby Blues comic, then you will love this collection of the Macfearson's early years with baby Zoey! This is a must for first-time parents, who will see their own experiences mirrored in here! If your not a first-time parent, buy it anyway, because it is hilarious!

Baby Blues: 2010 Day-to-Day Calendar
$13.99
X-treme Sistering, Cootie Clinic, Bug-your-sisteropoly, and "million-billion-to-infinity tons" of homework. These are just some of the terms coined by the MacPherson kids, who star alongside their parents Wanda and Darryl in the hilarious comic strip Baby Blues. Each page of the Baby Blues 2010 Day-to-Day Calendar features a full-color comic and follows Darryl and Wanda's uproariously entertaining Adventures in Parenthood with their three young children. Whether it's Zoe registering sleepovers on a Richter scale (6.8 or above), Hammie naming Wanda's lone chin hair Chinny, or Wren just trying to get her first word in, this calendar gives the phrase "family fun" a whole new meaning.