I requested this book on NetGalley because I grew up reading Calvin and Hobbes strip reruns in the paper and also as books in the library at my elementary school (I'd fight my classmates to check them out over and over again), but I have never really looked into the history of the comic or Watterson himself.

It was quite an interesting biography especially ass I had little to zero knowledge about the history of it prior to reading. Although at times it felt like Hingston was upset at Watterson for being flippant or uncaring about ending the strip, but then later on he seems like he came to terms with it and was at peace with it all. I really did enjoy reading about Hingston's thoughts about the meaning of the strip, and I guess, the pathos of Calvin and Hobbes.

I really enjoyed this bit where Hingston wrote that in interviews Watterson always resisted the idea that the strip is about friendship, and he suggests that it's "on a fundamental level, a strip about loneliness: the ways we keep it at bay, insulate ourselves from it, and occasionally, when our options run out, give into it."

Would recommend reading this if you're like me and grew up loving the comics but don't actually know much about it and would like to! It's relatively short and easy to read and seems to cover decades in a succinct way.

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The uncorrected proof was very all over the place, so I ended up not finishing it, despite what I read being very interesting. Will seek out the finished product.

Calvin and Hobbes was my generations' reason to read the newspaper, and Michael Hingston examines why. This book kept me reading way past bedtime. It made me happy/sad. Let's Go Exploring is written conversationally which I really appreciated. He captures all the whimsy and yes, the sadness that Calvin and Hobbes is no more. Mr Hingston gives the background on the strip's creator and his reasons for stopping the strip. I was not aware that the comic's creator never licensed the Calvin and Hobbes images and the reasoning behind his decision. Calvin and Hobbes have stood the test of time, and Michael Hingston does them and their creator, as well as their impact, justice.
I can see this book as a discussion group selection, as I certainly want to share, discuss, and debate.

If you liked the comic Calvin and Hobbes, then this book is right up your alley. It talks about the comics and how it affected society. And really, who didn't love Calvin and Hobbes? If you needed a smile or a laugh, it was time to read Calvin and Hobbes. When it ended,it made me sad, just as it did for so many. It is a great companion book for those who loved the comic. Fun and short to read. Give it a try!

Calvin and Hobbes is the reason I started buying newspapers. I come from a Spanish speaking country, but I have never enjoyed reading in Spanish. There was one newspaper that was published in English and it published Calvin and Hobbes. After reading the daily strip, I would peruse headlines and slowly became interested in local, national, and international news.

This book recounts the comic strip's humble beginnings, rise to fame, and lasting impact. If you have collected Calving and Hobbes anthologies this will be a great addition to your library.

Our family are all huge Calvin and Hobbes fans so having the opportunity to read and review Lets Go Exploring was really amazing. I appreciate Michael Hingston and all his efforts to put the new perspective on one of the most loved comic strips of all time. I hope the word has gotten out about this book because it's captivating and page turning, loved it.

An book covering the writing of the iconic comic strip, Calvin & Hobbes, its writing and the end of the strip. It also covers both Watterson's life since 1995 as well as the afterlife of the strip.

It's insightful and knowledgable but not immersed in fandom.

Apologies.... did not read as requested without fully reading description and understanding the context of the book.

I really enjoyed this book. I'd previously read "Looking for Calvin and Hobbes" by Nevin Martell, and I was a little hesitant to read this, thinking it would be more of the same. I was happily surprised, as it gave a bit more background information, and read like journalism, instead of the work of a super intense fan. I felt like I came away from "Let's Go Exploring" book with more of an appreciation of "Calvin and Hobbes", but I do wish there had been more (although that's typically the case with the "Pop Classics" series). Overall, it was nice to get more info, especially because I was very young when the strip ended, and didn't get the full effect until later in life when I purchased all of the collected books. I definitely recommend this to anyone who is a big fan of the strip, although many of them may know a great deal of this already. Quick and easy read; left me feeling informed, but still wanting more.

My family and I were/are huge C/H fans. We bought our sons every book published and bought replacements when they wore out. So I am very enthusiastic about this book. The author has done his research and presents an entertaining and insightful book. Highly recommended.
My thanks to NetGalley for providing me with an eARC in exchange for my honest review.

Whenever there is more Calvin & Hobbes, there is reason to celebrate.

As an educational reference for the unforgettable Clavin and Hobbes, Let's Go Exploring gives a lot of background and explains why we lost Calvin and company too soon. If you are a casual fan, you won't like this book. This isn't some fun insight into the comics. At first, I was discouraged by the lack of strips, but it made sense as I truly understood what this book was about. For a fan like me, this book gave me closure. I learned a lot about how the comic industry works and how cartoonists are treated. I learned a lot about Bill Waterson and the history of Calvin and Hobbes. It was like learning more about your middle school best friend who moved away and you didn't know why and then you connect on Facebook years later and get the whole story.

Overall an interesting book about my all-time favorite comic strip and its creator. Well-written and researched, interesting while avoiding becoming boring.

Short but interesting book about the comic strip I have been reading for years, and loved for years. I was a bit dissapointed to find a memoir and not a graphical novel, which is what I was expecting. Nevertheless, I would recommend this book to Calvin and Hobbes fans to see what is behind the curtains

I've read previous entries in the Pop Classics series and really enjoyed them - it gives you a slim, in-depth look at the deeper meaning and legacy a piece of pop culture might have had. Calvin and Hobbes feels like a perfect selection for this series, but the actual look into its legacy makes some good points about what it has to say about imagination, childhood, and creative control of your artwork, but never really chases any of these points down fully enough to be satisfying on any of them. This is a pretty slim volume and breezy read, but I wanted it to go further.

A great, short read about the advent of Calvin & Hobbes, stories of its creator, brief tellings of its impact on our culture, and our fasciation with both the author and his creation. I don't really know anyone who doesn't treasure the old comic strip, and Hingston is inviting us along to analyze, remember, and appreciate it for what it is, and not what we think it should be.

Naturally, due to the iron grip Watterson has on C&H, don't expect any animated examples in the book, but please don't let that dissuade you from reading. I would imagine that most anyone thumbing through these pages will at least learn a little about the beloved series. Lots of information, it's an easy read, and highly recommended. The choice for the title of this book is simply perfect.

Many thanks to NetGalley for the advance review.

Let's Go Exploring: Calvin and Hobbes was an entertaining and informative book for me since, although I very much enjoy Calvin and Hobbes, I didn't discover it until well after its newspaper run had ended (I didn't learn to read until about halfway through it, and we were overseas for the rest). So while some fans may be well aware of the timeline of the strip, this was all new information to me, so very interesting.

Aside from tracing the evolution of the strip and creator Bill Watterson's career, the author spends some time analyzing what it was about this strip that made it so beloved by nearly everyone, covering major characters and familiar elements -- as he mentions early on, there are "haters" for just about anything, but very rarely for Calvin and Hobbes. This part (the first couple chapters) was enjoyable and can help fans feel a sense of commonality in their appreciation of the strip, without getting bogged down in details or overanalysis.

The final chapter covers the numerous tributes and homages that have continued to try and help fans fill the gap left by Calvin and Hobbes since its end. This was slightly less interesting to me, but at the same time it also ponders the question of why so many felt the need to find closure in the first place, and demonstrates the degreee to which Calvin and Hobbes has become a pop culture icon, even without lucrative licensing.

(Thanks to NetGalley for the review copy.)

At one time, before the advent of that internet thing, we all read newspapers, pretty much everyday. And, on Sundays, we devoted hours to going through all the Sunday sections, most particularly, everyone's favorite section - the Sunday funnies. Nowadays newspapers barely exist and their buildings such as the LA Times building are vacant and deserted and lifeless. I haven't picked up a paper in ages except the complimentary hotel copies. But the Sunday funnies ruled and in the eighties - besides Peanuts -there was Calvin and Hobbes. Calvin and Hobbes was the best!

This fairly short book examines the comic strip, talks about how wonderful it was, and how Bill Watterson ended the strip, and went into seclusion. Great book. Doesn't try to make the comic fit into any preconceived ideas.