Top 5 Reasons to Scoop Up a Copy of Everett Gee Jackson' Goat Tails and Doodlebugs

First reason? It's a gorgeous book! But who is Everett Gee Jackson? and what is Goat Tails and Doodlebugs?  Jackson was a former professor and longtime chair of the SDSU Department of Art (now School of Art, Design, and Art History at San Diego State University). His lavishly illustrated Goat Tails and Doodlebugs reflects on his past, attempting to establish connections to his career as a painter. Unlike his previous books (for instance, Four Trips to Antiquity, also with SDSU Press) that document his experiences painting in Mexico and Central America, Goat Tails and Doodlebugs is a compilation of vignettes tracing all the way back to his early childhood years in Texas up and attempts to discover the progression and development of his artwork (example, below; more here).

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Jackson delivers unique stories, both moving and captivating-- each story feels familiar and draws us into this special and intimate part of his life, giving us a real and profound understanding of who he is and how that was bound up with his painting. He shares memories that are emotional and lighthearted at the same time and that have the ability to make us laugh as well as cry. The stories are accompanied by his own illustrations and paintings, beautiful and captivating in themselves, that add much to the overall effect of the book.

The Fishing Barge

Everett Gee Jackson, 1933