About the Author

Bruce McCall began his career in a commercial art studio, switched to journalism and then advertising, and began writing and painting humorous subjects in the seventies, first with National Lampoon and ultimately for The New Yorker. McCall has published six previous books, including This Land Was Made for You and Me (But Mostly Me) in collaboration with David Letterman. He lives in New York City.

Reviews

“A comic hero of several generations, Bruce McCall celebrates the memoir with humor, self-deprecation, and an occasional twist of the knife.”  
—Steve Martin, actor, comedian, and author of Born Standing Up

“How Did I Get Here? is a deeply moving book about what it means to be an artist. It’s much more than learning your craft. It’s about realizing that you are going to have to invent your own language to say what you have to say. Bruce McCall has invented an entire McCallian world to do just that, and we are so lucky he did.”
—Roz Chast, author of Can't We Talk about Something More Pleasant?

“The story of Bruce McCall's life is sad, funny, elegant and uplifting, all expressed with ease and grace. I’ve been in love with his writing and art since I was a normal aged person and believe he is the master, unequalled. Please don’t miss this opportunity to bask in his greatness. Try to reconcile his early days with the genius he is. Bruce McCall towers above mortals.” 
—David Letterman

“Bruce McCall is the visionary behind some of the funniest creations in comedy history, and How Did I Get Here? is his crowning achievement. At a time when millions of us wish we could flee to Canada, taking up residence in this Canadian genius’s alternate reality is an even better escape.”
—Andy Borowitz, author of The Borowitz Report

“There has never been a writer-artist-humorist remotely like Bruce McCall, who has been displaying his brilliant (and often bizarre) creative intelligence in the pages and on the covers of the New Yorker for the past 40 years. You might ask, how could a high school dropout from a supremely dysfunctional family, with no formal training of any kind, reach such heights? Read his engaging, surprising (and, of course, frequently hilarious) memoir, and you’ll come to understand that genius can emerge in the strangest ways.”
—Daniel Okrent, author of Last Call and The Guarded Gate
 
“This book saved my life. I’d rather not go into the details.”
—Patricia Marx, co-author of You Can Only Yell at Me for One Thing at a Time

“An affable memoir from the New Yorker cover artist and humorist... With potent affection and deadpan candor, McCall chronicles the struggles of his younger self, and his bemusement at ideas he'd once thought were ingenious is charming… [he] unfurls his memories with a raconteur's colorful flourishes… A leisurely diversion packed with insight and knowing panache.”
—Kirkus