Stephan Pastis — Pearls Jubilee: The Best, Worst, and Most Angrifying Pearls Before Swine Comic Strips - with Gene Weingarten

Stephan Pastis celebrates 25 years of *Pearls Before Swine* with *Pearls Jubilee*, a wide-ranging collection of the comic strip’s funniest, most controversial, and most touching moments. The event explores the strip’s development from the ambitions of a disaffected lawyer into a worldwide phenomenon, with Pastis discussing the stories behind selected strips and the creative history of the feature.

The book includes hundreds of comics, creator-selected top-10 lists, author and collaborator essays, commentary, fan and hate mail, newspaper-censored strips, photographs, crossover comics by other cartoonists, and other archival material. Pastis will be joined in conversation by Gene Weingarten.

When: November 18, 2026

Showtimes: 7:00pm

Venue: Politics and Prose at The Wharf, 610 Water St SW, Washington, DC 20024

Tickets: Free

Seating: First come, first served

Featured speakers: Stephan Pastis and Gene Weingarten

About Stephan Pastis: Pastis trained and worked as an attorney before becoming a cartoonist. He studied at the University of California, Berkeley, and UCLA School of Law, and lives in the Bay Area with his wife and two children.

About Gene Weingarten: Weingarten is a former longtime Washington Post writer and humor columnist, the author of *The Fiddler in the Subway*, and a two-time Pulitzer Prize winner for feature writing.

Book: *Pearls Jubilee: The Best, Worst, and Most Angrifying Pearls Before Swine Comic Strips* is available for preorder in hardcover for $40. The book is scheduled for publication on December 8, 2026, and has ISBN 9781524892982.

Accessibility: To request accommodations or ask about accessibility, email events@politics-prose.com, ideally at least one week before the event. Requests made closer to the event will be accommodated when possible.