My Troubles with Women by Robert Crumb
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Book Reviews of My Troubles with Women
Book Review: hilariously revolting and splendidly non-PC
Summary: 5 Stars
In the heart of every man, I suspect, lies at least a bit of adolescent misogyny. I grew up reading Crumb, who hit the scene right as my adolescence was beginning. Crumb gets the alienation that non-jock boys feel in this society of the young, and wraps absolutely wonderful and hilarious stories around these issues. And he graphically portrays sex in the most unsparing terms, verging on the truly grotesque. Then there is his taste for steatopaegic women!!
This collection is perhaps his best: his humor, his ongoing anger at women, and his strange (and ultimately supremely satisfied) tastes come through in a way no one else could do it. The first story is the best, long on autobiography and utterly hilarious. From an inhibited and unpopular boy, stardom in the underground comic revolution catapulted Crumb into the rank of superstar counter cultural artists. I believe that he deserves his fame, as his vision is dark and unique and perfectly realized in his work. SO with this fame, he goes about experimenting on the women who now fawn on him, after rejecting him. He loves them and despises them and mistreats them, all while realizing the emptiness of his game. The following stories really don't tell us anything new, but they are still awfully funny and outstandingly worth the read.
There are also the comics done in cooperation with his wife, which simply lack the tightness of his writing in the solo pieces. Her drawing style is seriously inferior to his, but there is no question that they share a vision and that this is a new departure in his work, more realistic but also satirical - it covers married life that is strange and "cute as a bug's ear". It is funny and playful, if not quite a 5-star performance. Moreover, some of the material is recycled from older Crumb, which fans would notice.
Needless to say, women do not appreciate his deliciously lascivious cynicism about their part of the species. They see him as pathetic and misogynous, and they are right in their own way. But men get what he is saying, in all its cruel detail. Sure, it is pretty adolescent, but as Hughes said in the film, he really is a modern-day Hieronymous Bosch.
Book Review: Twisted & Funny
Summary: 4 Stars
This compilation book contains ten previously published R. Crumb comics. It's a soft cover book, but it's sturdy because of its sewn-in binding, thick cover, and thicker-than-normal pages. I found the book to be humorous in how it comments on the social structure of society and it was also funny in a twisted sort of way. Through the course of the book, you will discover some of the reasons behind R. Crumb's bizarre sexual fantasies. If you never really fit in while going to school up through high school, you will be able to relate to Crumb's sense of isolation and jealousy over the "in-crowd."Throughout "My Troubles With Women" you will find Crumb leering at and interacting with his ideal woman which is "built like a brick (out)house." Crumb is literally obsessed with women who have thick thighs and big derrieres. Additionally, there are some pornographic pictures, though I wouldn't really describe the book as a book of pornography.
Three of the ten comics are combined efforts between Crumb and his wife, Aline. I didn't like these three as much because I don't like the style of his wife's art and it is more about family and marriage situations which weren't as interesting to me. My favorite comic had to be "Footsy" which I found hilarious and nostalgic. "Footsy" delves into some situations where Crumb got a big thrill from playing footsy in school and later playing footsy in meetings for an underground comic book. Darker depredations are explored midway through the book as Crumb finds that women are attracted to him as an artist and underground figure.
The book was definitely an entertaining read; I chuckled and laughed out loud many times. I would have liked it better if the publisher added page numbers and if all the comics were exclusively Crumb's sole work - if the latter were fulfilled I probably would have given it five stars.
Book Review: Great Introduction to Crumb
Summary: 4 Stars
This was the first Crumb comic collection I have purchased. I had read about him for years, I always had it on the backburner to get some of his stuff, but never got around to it. I made a mistake in waiting, but it was worth the wait. Crumb is the rare combination of great storyteller and artist. I have the feeling I will read this collection several times, the first time to enjoy the stories, and the next several consecutive times to absorb the great artwork.
'My Troubles With Women' documents Crumbs sexual 'proclivities' from a young lad riding women's legs, high school crushes on Amazonian girls that other boys called 'fat', to comic groupies that Crumb lives out all his thick thighs/bubble butt fantasies with. It's all terribly interesting stuff.
The only low point in this collection is the inclusion of comics that were collaboration with his wife. His wife's forte is not comics, maybe she is an artist, but this is not her medium. Her drawings are flat and uninspired when compared to Crumb's style. Plus the dialog is ham handed and boring. It was a real chore trying to slog through these pages. I guess the "...troubles with Women" include the wife, but the husband and wife stuff seems out of place in this collection.
Book Review: Crumb!
Summary: 4 Stars
I think it is useful to have seen the documentary "Crumb", to enjoy his work. He is an amazingly confessional artist who has turned his own obsessions and fantasies into a an amazing career. It doesn't get any better than that.Book Review: the usual problem
Summary: 4 Stars
Every man that just was the'sensitive intelligent boy' for women and had seen them then in love with the worst morons will recognize the given situations.
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