Arthur Asa Berger, author of books and articles on media studies, popular culture, and humor, has kept handwritten journals going back to 1954. Collected here are his journals from 1954 – 2005. The journals comprise many details of his intellectual and personal life, and evolve over time into a particular format that mixes tables, calendars, and indices with free-form writing and graphical expressions.

Some of the organizational features of the journals include numbered pages, monthly calendars (detailed calendars begin in vol. 33), phone lists, addresses, letters sent and received, publishing intentions and articles published, travel schedules, lists, and “progress reports.”

Some of the more free-form contents include cartoons; sketches and drawings in pen, pencil, and watercolor (particularly in early journals); ideas; personal reflections; newspaper clippings; photographs; recipes; maps; hand-made stamped linocuts; and travelogues.

The author depicts a range of experiences in the journals, including time spent in the military, work in academia, teaching classes, writing books and other scholarship, family life, the early adoption of new technology with the purchase of a Commodore 64 home computer, and travel.

All volumes are 5.5” x 8.5” (excluding vol. 8 – 8.5” x 11”) and approximately 200 - 300 pages.