Robert Crumb is best known as the father of underground comics and a leading chronicler of the hippie scene, but he has progressed far beyond his sixties-based fame. His work now appears in the
New Yorker and other upscale publications--a far cry from the cheaply printed, hand-stapled
Comic Books he once hawked on the streets of San Francisco. New
Collections of interviews with Crumb limn a complex artist even more provocative than the eccentric outsider seen in the acclaimed documentary film
Crumb. The 18 pieces in
conversations track Crumb's entire career. Earliest is a 1968
Berkeley Barb article, in which the "Hasbury cartoonist" relates his comics' recent "bust" by "the Man" for obscenity. The most penetrating entries come from fanzines and other alternative publications, yet even those from such mainstream sources as the
Los Angeles Times are vivid, entertaining, and informative--journalists apparently can't go wrong with Crumb. The most recent talks disclose a much older but still feisty, iconoclastic artist who has fled the American society he'd long scorned to live with his family in a small French village. Although the cartoonist is notoriously shy and allegedly misanthropic, he comes across as congenial, articulate, and, above all, unabashedly candid, in fascinating contrast to the self-loathing curmudgeon of his autobiographical stories.
Gordon FlaggCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
Reader ReviewsPoor ol' Robert Crumb, reluctantly labeled father of the underground comic movement has moved to France with his lovely, comely and protectant wife. These conversations help the reader get into Crumb's head. They give an autobiographical and historical perspective of Crumb, from his harsh family atmosphere to when he escaped from a greeting card company to find the summer of love in California. Many have been offended by what he has produced. He is an artist and as an artist he does what he is supposed to do; make you look at the (our) world in a different way. These conversations give the reader the opportunity to be an auteur into the artistic psyche. Whether you believe Crumb is an artist or not, he was there; he saw, he came (in more ways than one) and he went away. It's a fascinating read and brings you closer to him. (It is impossible to meet him. Don't bother him in France and he no longer does any tours/talks-too busy drawing!) It is worth it to have reviewed or be familiar with some of his comic work if you have not done so already. (Where have you been?) There are many sources on the Internet as well as published to accomplish this. These conversations begin in the 60's and break into the 21st Century. I look forward to the next conversations, if he allows them.
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