Rats

"Schulz was no philanderer, though he was prone to crushes on 'distant princesses' (c.f., Charlie Brown's little red-headed girl). Rather, it's learning about the depressive, anxious, detached, resentful, self-defeating and self-deceiving personality of the comic strip's creator that's likely to puzzle and sadden some of those who grew up with 'Peanuts.' (And, really, what American child didn't grow up with Charlie Brown, Lucy, Linus and Peppermint Patty, as well as Snoopy?) I realized, reading this book, that it's as impossible for me to be objective about 'Peanuts' as it is to be impartial about my own parents; like Mom and Dad, Schulz's characters had always been there, four panels every weekday and in color on Sundays."

Laura Miller in Salon reviews David Michaelis's Schulz and Peanuts: A Biography.
(As does John Updike in The New Yorker.)

And Brian Doherty provides a Peanuts slide-show in Slate.

Your the Man Now Dog proves that Charlie Brown is a racist.