Demetri Martin: This Is A Book
I picked this up at a bookstore and ended up reading it cover to cover in one sitting, which doesn't usually happen with humor books. It's 365 single-panel illustrations, one for each day, packed into a small hardcover. The jokes are deadpan visual wordplay — simple drawings that set up a pun or absurdist observation in two panels or less. It reads like flipping through a calendar if the calendar was written by someone who thinks in diagrams. The book came out in 2014, published by HarperCollins. It follows the same format as his previous work, but scaled up — every day of the year gets its own panel. The artwork is clean and minimalist, done in black ink on white backgrounds, which makes sense because the jokes rely on you seeing the visual setup clearly before reading the text. I've recommended this to people who say they don't read comics, which feels like a genuine achievement. The humor doesn't demand any prior knowledge of Martin's stand-up or Netflix specials. Each panel works independently. You can open it anywhere and get a laugh without context.
What You Actually Get Inside
There are roughly 365 individual pieces. Some are single images with a caption. Others are two or four-panel sequences that deliver a short narrative joke. A few lean into visual puzzles where the punchline is an image that recontextualizes everything you just saw. He also includes recurring characters and running gags scattered throughout — a guy doing math on a chalkboard shows up more than once, for example. The pacing is the main thing that makes this work. Since every page is different, you never hit a stretch of weaker material the way you might in a stand-up special or a longer cartoon collection. Each panel is self-contained enough that you're always starting fresh.
How to Buy It
The standard edition is available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and most major book retailers. It's in hardcover and typically runs between $18 and $25 depending on where you buy it. A used paperback copy might show up for less on eBay or AbeBooks if you don't mind waiting. There isn't an official free download since it's a copyrighted published work, so any site offering a PDF is either scanning it illegally or hosting fan uploads that get taken down regularly. I wouldn't bother looking for those — the book is cheap enough to justify buying a copy. The format looks simple, but it's not a book you binge in one go if you actually want to register the jokes. My experience was that the first time through I finished it in two hours because I was moving fast. The second time, I slowed down and noticed detail I'd missed — small visual callbacks and background elements that repeat across unrelated panels. Some of the four-panel sequences only land on the second read because the setup requires you to connect two earlier moments. I'd suggest reading it twice if you want the full value out of it. If you already enjoy Martin's other work, this is a no-brainer. If you're new to him, start with a stand-up special first to get a sense of his comedic rhythm, then grab the book. The humor here is drier than his stage material and relies more on visual reasoning than verbal setups, so people who come from a comedy writing background tend to appreciate it more than casual viewers of late-night television.
Get the Full Details
The biggest limitation is that after a while the format gets predictable. Not every panel hits, and a decent chunk are mild observations dressed up as visual gags rather than actual laughs. That's just the nature of a 365-panel book — even the best ones have filler days. Don't expect every single one to land. If you want something more consistently sharp and don't mind longer reads, his earlier book "Drawing Down the Moon" has a tighter selection of work. But "This Is" still holds up as a solid introduction to his visual comedy style.
