Heath Robinson (1872-1944) is Britain's "Gadget King"--master of the art
of creating madcap contraptions that made use of ropes, weights, and
pulleys to perform relatively simple tasks, from wart removal to peeling
potatoes. Although he trained as a painter and also worked as a book
illustrator, Robinson developed his forte with drawings of gadgets that
parodied the absurdities of modern life. A true cartoonist, Robinson had
a way of getting at the heart of the matter while simultaneously
satirizing it mercilessly. He became a household name in Britain, and
his popularity continues today with plans to build a museum in London to
share with a new generation the story of his life and work.
Heath Robinson's Golf establishes Robinson as one of the great
humorists of the "gentleman's game." From the origin of those peculiar
shortened pants called "plus-fours" to the multiple meanings of an
"awkward lie," Robinson pokes fun at this popular sport. Among the
cartoons in Golf are mechanisms like a machine for testing golf
drivers or the "waterproof mashie" for keeping one's clothes dry. And,
while Robinson primarily focuses on the antics of a portly golfer and
his long-suffering caddie, few will avoid the feeling that Robinson is
at times speaking directly to them with contraptions like a putter
fitted with a patented ball guide or a "movable bunker" to block an
opponent's progress down the fairway.
A side-splittingly funny collection from the man whose "absurd,
beautiful drawings" H. G. Wells claimed "give me a peculiar pleasure of
the mind like nothing else in the world," this book make a perfect gift
for anyone looking to have a laugh at our complicated and increasingly
mechanical modern life.
