American Splendor and More American Splendor: The Life and Times of Harvey Pekar
by Harvey Pekar
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Book Summary Information
Author: Harvey PekarEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2003-07-29
ISBN: 0345468309
Number of pages: 320
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Product features:
- Life and Times of Harvey Pekar
Book Reviews of American Splendor and More American Splendor: The Life and Times of Harvey Pekar
Book Review: A Humdrum Life Writ Large
Summary: 5 Stars
I've been a fan of Harvey Pekar's work for over fifteen years. The first time I ever read his self-published comix, American Splendor, I was impressed by its examination of everyday life. His self-effacing humor grows on those who want more than mainstream comics starring spandex-clad teens with superpowers. Compared with Pekar, Spidey has it easy.
I was happy when this movie tie-in release of his early collected work was published. The everyday brilliance of the real life interactions between Pekar and his friends, co-workers and loved ones merit more attention by discerning readers. It would behoove anyone who cares about the comix medium to claim a copy for their personal reading enjoyment. This volume is not for collectors, but for fans of alternative graphic literature who want more meat and potatoes rather than the visual eye candy of more mainstream publishers.
Pekar has been described as a "working class intellectual" (The Comics Journal), and this label is respectfully accurate. He comes from a generation who grew up devouring a culture that had more respect for intelligence than is common today. Instead of just mourning this trend, Pekar rebels from it in true beatnik fashion. His long-time association with R. Crumb (who drew the very first American Splendor story, "The Harvey Pekar Name Story") attracted other artists within Cleveland as well as from other locations as the series has progressed.
The everyday heroism of Pekar working a civil service job in order to create his vision of the potential of graphic literature comes through in every page of this collection. I am glad that there are other collections and issues of American Splendor that are available. It would be grand if future generations of comix fans could gravitate around the work that Pekar has never tired from creating. Even at the worst of his lymphoma and chemo treatments, he has never quit observing and relating the drama of everyday life.
Summary of American Splendor and More American Splendor: The Life and Times of Harvey Pekar
The inspiration for the award-winning moviefrom HBO Films and Fine Line Features
AMERICAN SPLENDOR
The Life and Times of Harvey Pekar
Two classic comic anthologies in one volume
Stories by Harvey Pekar
Introduction by R. Crumb
Art by Kevin Brown, Gregory Budgett, Sean Carroll, Sue Cavey, R. Crumb, Gary Dumm, Val Mayerik, and Gerry Shamray
The classic collection of the comics that inspired the movie American Splendor, winner of the Grand Jury Prize at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival
American Splendor is the world?s first literary comic book. Cleveland native Harvey Pekar is a true American original. A V.A. hospital file clerk and comic book writer, Harvey chronicles the ordinary and mundane in stories both funny and touching. His dead-on eye for the frustrations and minutiae of the workaday world mix in a delicate balance with his insight into personal relationships. Pekar has been compared to Dreiser, Dostoevsky, and Lenny Bruce. But he is truly more than all of them?he is himself.
?Mr. Pekar has . . . proven that comics can address the ambiguities of daily living, that like the finest fiction, they can hold a mirror up to life.?
?The New York Times
?[Pekar] has a vision that makes daily city life?a ride on the bus, a run-in with a boss, or simply buying bread?dramatic.?
?Chicago Sun-Times
?Simply stated, American Splendor is the most superb literary endeavor to come off the streets of Cleveland in decades.?
?The Plain Dealer (Cleveland)
?Mr. Pekar lets all of life flood into his panels: the humdrum and the heroic, the gritty and the grand.?
?The New York Times Book Review
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