For Beginners

For Beginners LLC is a publishing company based out of Danbury, Connecticut that publishes the For Beginners graphic nonfiction series. The series has been around for many years and has sold more than a million copies.

History

The series, described as "documentary comic books," was launched in the 1970s, but became unavailable after the death of creator Glenn Thompson in 2001. In 2007, a consortium of investors revived the series, reprinted back issues, and promised to publish between six and nine new issues each year.

In his lifetime, Thompson had formed Writers and Readers as a publishing cooperative after two years at Penguin Group’s education imprint. Writers and Readers published the first of the Beginners series, the first of which was Cuba, the second Marx. The books were meant to appeal to young “nonreaders,” as well as people who wished to broaden their knowledge without attending a university.

Questions of control arose after some members sold rights to part of the Beginners series. Compromising the cooperation values of Writers and Readers, Thompson took control as sole publisher. He went to New York and began a second branch called Writers and Readers Publishing, Inc.

For years, Thompson spent his time traveling between England and New York to manage the two companies, until 1987, when Thompson moved the company to Harlem. Thompson’s goal became leading a new Harlem Renaissance by creating an international publishing house there. Writers and Readers and the Beginners series brought in enough revenue for Thompson to start two new publishing companies: The Harlem River Press (published children’s poetry) and Black Butterfly Childrens’ Books (published books for the inner-city child). By the time of his death in 2001, Thompson and Writers and Readers Publishing had published over forty Beginners titles. Glenn Thompson died of cancer in London on September 7, 2001, leaving three children and two grandchildren.

Several years after the passing of Glenn Thompson, investors decided to buy the rights to the titles, creating For Beginners, LLC. For Beginners LLC re-released 20 of Thompson’s Beginners titles and authorized the first new title, Dada and Surrealism For Beginners, in the summer of 2007.

The For Beginners Series

The For Beginners series currently contains thirty-eight, fully illustrated titles on the works of great thinkers and complex concepts. The goal of the series is to present these topics to interested readers of all levels in fun, engaging and understandable ways.

List of Titles

1. African History For Beginners by Herb Boyd, Illustrated by Shey Wolvek-Pfister
2. Anarchism For Beginners by Marcos Mayer, Illustrated by Hector A. Sanguillano
3. Arabs and Israel For Beginners by Ron David, Illustrated by Susan David
4. Art Theory For Beginners by Richard Osborne and Dan Sturgis, Illustrated by Natalie Turner
5. Astronomy For Beginners by Jeff Becan, Illustrated by Sarah Becan
6. Ayn Rand For Beginners by Andrew Bernstein, Illustrated by Owen Brozman
7. Barack Obama For Beginners by Bob Neer, Illustrated by Joe Lee
8. Black History For Beginners by Denise Dennis, Illustrated by Susan Willmarth
9. Black Holocaust For Beginners by S.E. Anderson, Illustrated by Vanessa Holly
10. Black Women For Beginners by S. Pearl Sharp, Illustrated by Beverly Hawkins Hall
11. Chomsky For Beginners by David Cogswell, Illustrated by Paul Gordon
12. Dada and Surrealism For Beginners by Elsa Bethanis, Illustrated by Joe Lee
13. Deconstruction For Beginners by Jim Powell, Illustrated by Joe Lee
14. Democracy For Beginners by Robert Cavalier, Illustrated by Reuben Negron
15. Derrida For Beginners by Jim Powell, Illustrated by Van Howell
16. Eastern Philosophy For Beginners by Jim Powell, Illustrated by Joe Lee
17. Existentialism For Beginners by David Cogswell, Illustrated by Joe Lee
18. FDR and The New Deal For Beginners by Paul Buhle, Illustrated by Sabrina Jones
19. Foucault For Beginners by Lydia Alix Fillingham, Illustrated by Moshe Susser
20. Global Warming For Beginner by Dean Goodwin, Illustrated by Joe Lee
21. Heidegger For Beginners by Eric Charles Lemay and Jennifer A. Pitts, Illustrated by Paul Gordon
22. Islam For Beginners by M.I. Matar, Illustrated by H.N. Haddad
23. Kierkegaard For Beginners Written and Illustrated by Donald D. Palmer
24. Lacan For Beginners by Phillip Hill, Illustrated by David Leach
25. Linguistics For Beginners by W. Terrence Gordon, Illustrated by Willmarth
26. Malcolm X For Beginners Written and Illustrated by Bernard Aquina Doctor
27. Nietzsche For Beginners by Marc Sautet, Illustrated by Patrick Boussignac
28. The Olympics For Beginners by Brandon Toropov, Illustrated by Joe Lee
29. Philosophy For Beginners by Richard Osborne, Illustrated by Ralph Edney
30. Plato For Beginners by Robert Cavalier, Illustrated by Eric Lurio
31. Poetry For Beginners by Margaret Chapman and Kathleen Welton, Illustrated by Reubon Negron
32. Postmodernism For Beginners by Jim Powell, Illustrated by Joe Lee
33. Relativity and Quantum Physics For Beginners by Steven L. Manly, Illustrated by Steven Fournier
34. Sartre For Beginners Written and Illustrated by Donald D. Palmer
35. Shakespeare For Beginners by Brandon Toropov, Illustrated by Joe Lee
36. Structuralism and Poststructuralism For Beginners Written and Illustrated by Donald D. Palmer
37. Zen For Beginners by Judith Blackstone and Zoran Josipovic, Illustrated by Naomi Rosenblatt
38. Zinn For Beginners by David Cogswell, Illustrated by Joe Lee

References

• Boslaugh, Sarah (24 September 2009). "Art Theory For Beginners Review". Playback:stl. St. Louis. Retrieved 23 June 2010.
• Boslaugh, Sarah (9 July 2009). "Ayn Rand For Beginners Review". Playback:stl. St. Louis. Retrieved 23 June 2010.
• Boslaugh, Sarah (18 August 2008). "Barack Obama For Beginners: An Essential Guide Review". Playback:stl. St. Louis. Retrieved 23 June 2010.
• Boslaugh, Sarah (18 June 2009). "Deconstruction For Beginners Review". Playback:stl. St. Louis. Retrieved 23 June 2010.
• Boslaugh, Sarah (6 August 2009). "Democracy For Beginners Review". Playback:stl. St. Louis. Retrieved 23 June 2010.
• Boslaugh, Sarah (9 October 2009). "Existentialism For Beginners Review". Playback:stl. St. Louis. Retrieved 23 June 2010.
• Boslaugh, Sarah (12 March 2009). "Foucault For Beginners Review". Playback:stl. St. Louis. Retrieved 23 June 2010.
• Boslaugh, Sarah (23 April 2009). "Shakespeare For Beginners Review". Playback:stl. St. Louis. Retrieved 23 June 2010.
• Cosentino, Teri (6 May 2009). "NSTA Recomends: Global Warming For Beginners". National Science Teachers Association. Arlington, VA. Retrieved 23 June 2010.
• DeSio, John (9 February2009). "Nerd-Vana: New York Comic Con". The Village Voice. New York. Retrieved 23 June 2010. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
• Dwyer, Tom (18 November 2008). "Dave Cogswell-Hoboken Writer Publishes New Book". River View Observer. Hudson County, NJ. Retrieved 23 June 2010.
• Gardner, Jan (20 July 2008). "Barack Barage". The Boston Globe. Boston. Retrieved 23 June 2010.
• Gordon, Jesse (November 2008). "Barack Obama For Beginners Book Review by OnTheIssues.org". On The Issues. Cambridge, MA. Retrieved 23 June 2010.
• Yau, Linda (15 September 2008). "Book Review: Barack Obama For Beginners". Lincoln Heights Literary Society. Washington. Retrieved 23 June 2010.

External links

ForBeginnersBooks.com