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American Splendor
The New American Splendor Anthology: From Off the Streets of Cleveland
American Splendor is the series that sparked a revolution in comics and brought graphic novels to the attention of post-adolescent readers everywhere. Here is the best of American Splendor and other comics by Harvey Pekar, including never-before-seen material.
300 pages, Paperback
First published January 21, 1991
15 people are currently reading
339 people want to read
About the author
Harvey Pekar
118 books256 followersHarvey Pekar was an American writer and comics creator whose groundbreaking autobiographical series American Splendor helped redefine the possibilities of graphic storytelling. Frequently called the poet laureate of Cleveland, he developed a body of work that approached everyday life with candor, humor, frustration, and philosophical reflection. Pekar’s voice became central to the evolution of comics into a medium capable of serious literary expression, and his influence extended to criticism, journalism, and popular culture through his essays, radio work, and memorable television appearances.
Pekar grew up in Cleveland, where his parents operated a small grocery store, and his early experiences shaped much of the sensibility that later defined his writing. His deep love of jazz led him into criticism, and through that world he befriended artist Robert Crumb. Their shared interest in music eventually led him to try writing comics. Pekar wrote his first scripts in the early seventies, sketching out stories with simple figures before passing them to Crumb and other underground artists who encouraged him to continue. With the first issue of American Splendor in 1976, Pekar began chronicling the small battles, anxieties, and fleeting moments that made up his daily life in Cleveland. His day job as a file clerk, his marriages, conversations with coworkers, frustrations with bureaucracy, and the struggle to make ends meet all became material for a series that often blurred the line between observation and confession. Over the years, he worked with a wide range of artists who interpreted his scripts in styles that mirrored the emotional tone of each story.
The success of American Splendor brought Pekar national attention. Collections such as The Life and Times of Harvey Pekar received strong critical praise, and his unpredictable, often confrontational appearances on late-night television became a defining part of his public persona. The 2003 film adaptation of American Splendor, in which Paul Giamatti portrayed him, earned major festival awards and introduced Pekar’s work to a wider audience. He continued to write graphic memoirs, biographies, collaborations, and cultural commentary, expanding his range while maintaining the blunt honesty that characterized his voice. Pekar’s work remains central to the development of literary comics, influencing generations of writers and artists who followed his example.
Pekar grew up in Cleveland, where his parents operated a small grocery store, and his early experiences shaped much of the sensibility that later defined his writing. His deep love of jazz led him into criticism, and through that world he befriended artist Robert Crumb. Their shared interest in music eventually led him to try writing comics. Pekar wrote his first scripts in the early seventies, sketching out stories with simple figures before passing them to Crumb and other underground artists who encouraged him to continue. With the first issue of American Splendor in 1976, Pekar began chronicling the small battles, anxieties, and fleeting moments that made up his daily life in Cleveland. His day job as a file clerk, his marriages, conversations with coworkers, frustrations with bureaucracy, and the struggle to make ends meet all became material for a series that often blurred the line between observation and confession. Over the years, he worked with a wide range of artists who interpreted his scripts in styles that mirrored the emotional tone of each story.
The success of American Splendor brought Pekar national attention. Collections such as The Life and Times of Harvey Pekar received strong critical praise, and his unpredictable, often confrontational appearances on late-night television became a defining part of his public persona. The 2003 film adaptation of American Splendor, in which Paul Giamatti portrayed him, earned major festival awards and introduced Pekar’s work to a wider audience. He continued to write graphic memoirs, biographies, collaborations, and cultural commentary, expanding his range while maintaining the blunt honesty that characterized his voice. Pekar’s work remains central to the development of literary comics, influencing generations of writers and artists who followed his example.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 39 reviews
April 29, 2010
I'm not entirely sure that I can really give a star rating to this book. In a way, it's a strange old thing. Let me see. I wrote out a sort of review long hand in my diary last night. It went a bit like this:
I read Harvey Pekar's American Splendor Anthology, taken out from the library. First library book I've read in ages. Really satisfying.
The book's excellent, too, if you like this kind of thing. Pekar's sort of funny – not amusing. It's just that his vignettes, comics, strips, stories, what have you, are, by common convention, pointless. There's none of the situation-disruption-resolution structure you might tend to get in classic storytelling. There's no set up or punchline. There's just observation, reflection. Many are notes, almost, of times when he lost his glasses or conversations with friends or minor altercations he's had with his wife.
he recounts his time as a semi-regular guest on David Letterman's show in the 1980s, which I vaguely remember.
In some ways, what I find so intriguing about him is that he's always thought of himself as an honest everyman, working as he did and perhaps still does at a VA hospital in Cleveland. Even when he was on the verge of stardom in the US, he chose to rub Letterman up the wrong way, haranguing him about GE's very shady business practices in light of their ownership of NBC.
Even when Pekar was being courted for his own TV show, he remained always a hospital fling clerk. It appeared he was always satisfied doing that.
But what of the book itself? Well, in terms of the art, the panels are all drawn by different artists, Robert Crumb included. And, as I said, there's very little by way of payoff and punchline to any of the stories.
Is that good or bad? Well, to me, it's neither. It just ... is. The stories are sort of pointless, often quite fascinating because of it. Sometimes they're frustrating, but as a whole, each is like a very tiny piece of a jigsaw that is Harvey Pekar, from his roots as the child of Polish immigrants to his obsessive neuroses concerning his day-to-day life.
You get these glimpses of Cleveland during the early 1980s, too, the lot all illuminated as if by a zillion penlights at distance. There's always some steep shadow or incompleteness in his tales, but they're very revealing despite it. There are lots of unanswered questions about him, and to an extent, the stories, too.
Hey – go ahead. Read it!
I'd add this to my diary review. It's not for everyone. It might appeal to you if you're generally fascinated by the way people interact, if you're very much a people-watcher, if you're curious about language and the way people speak and think and act with each other. I'd hazard that Pekar's the kind of guy who just likes conversation for the hell of it. He likes words and accents, expressions and expressiveness. I think that's what turns him on. Perhaps I'm quite intrigued by this too, hence my endorsement.
Anyway. More to do.
Pardon my spelling if anything's errant.
I read Harvey Pekar's American Splendor Anthology, taken out from the library. First library book I've read in ages. Really satisfying.
The book's excellent, too, if you like this kind of thing. Pekar's sort of funny – not amusing. It's just that his vignettes, comics, strips, stories, what have you, are, by common convention, pointless. There's none of the situation-disruption-resolution structure you might tend to get in classic storytelling. There's no set up or punchline. There's just observation, reflection. Many are notes, almost, of times when he lost his glasses or conversations with friends or minor altercations he's had with his wife.
he recounts his time as a semi-regular guest on David Letterman's show in the 1980s, which I vaguely remember.
In some ways, what I find so intriguing about him is that he's always thought of himself as an honest everyman, working as he did and perhaps still does at a VA hospital in Cleveland. Even when he was on the verge of stardom in the US, he chose to rub Letterman up the wrong way, haranguing him about GE's very shady business practices in light of their ownership of NBC.
Even when Pekar was being courted for his own TV show, he remained always a hospital fling clerk. It appeared he was always satisfied doing that.
But what of the book itself? Well, in terms of the art, the panels are all drawn by different artists, Robert Crumb included. And, as I said, there's very little by way of payoff and punchline to any of the stories.
Is that good or bad? Well, to me, it's neither. It just ... is. The stories are sort of pointless, often quite fascinating because of it. Sometimes they're frustrating, but as a whole, each is like a very tiny piece of a jigsaw that is Harvey Pekar, from his roots as the child of Polish immigrants to his obsessive neuroses concerning his day-to-day life.
You get these glimpses of Cleveland during the early 1980s, too, the lot all illuminated as if by a zillion penlights at distance. There's always some steep shadow or incompleteness in his tales, but they're very revealing despite it. There are lots of unanswered questions about him, and to an extent, the stories, too.
Hey – go ahead. Read it!
I'd add this to my diary review. It's not for everyone. It might appeal to you if you're generally fascinated by the way people interact, if you're very much a people-watcher, if you're curious about language and the way people speak and think and act with each other. I'd hazard that Pekar's the kind of guy who just likes conversation for the hell of it. He likes words and accents, expressions and expressiveness. I think that's what turns him on. Perhaps I'm quite intrigued by this too, hence my endorsement.
Anyway. More to do.
Pardon my spelling if anything's errant.
November 23, 2015
Interesting comic book. Insightful and entertaining.
December 10, 2020
The American Splendour film is one of my all time favourites - I've watched it at least 10 times - so I always planned to read some of his comics, and finally got around to it. The collection is very diverse, but Harvey's obsessive and critical, yet somehow lovable, character shines through all of them. They also have a strong 1980s rust belt feel, which makes me vaguely nostalgic for my college days in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The only problem is the printing quality, which is poor to passable - and one of the comics is almost illegible because the artist used serif font for the text (!). However, this gives you a good feel for what the original comics must have been like - in fact, in one of the story lines Harvey comments on how he is particularly pleased with one of his book issues because of the quality of paper and printing, which makes you imagine it was not a common occurrence.
The anthology is a good way to encounter other comic artists of the period. I particularly enjoyed the visual humour of Chester Brown, and his storyline hinted at a drama between Bill Marks and the Hernandez brothers... so now I've got some wikipedia research to do, and more comics to put on my reading list!
The anthology is a good way to encounter other comic artists of the period. I particularly enjoyed the visual humour of Chester Brown, and his storyline hinted at a drama between Bill Marks and the Hernandez brothers... so now I've got some wikipedia research to do, and more comics to put on my reading list!
May 16, 2017
I must have picked this book up when I was 13 or 14. Read a couple stories and thought, "Man, this is boring." Picking this book up again in my late 30s, I think, "Man, this is boring. And hilarious. And awesome." I mean, it's just stories from a life. Some interesting, some not. But that's the point. This could be my life. This could be your life. If only everyone paid attention like Pekar did. Ordinary life is complex stuff indeed.
November 28, 2020
A must read for any Clevelander. These comics were very relatable and I was often dying laughing reading them. This was the first "comic book" I have ever read and I will definitely be reading more of Pekar's work!
October 28, 2024
It makes poetry out of the mundane goings-on of every day life. It does get a little tiresome reading about this old crank. But I love Harvey Pekar.
January 3, 2017
It's a fine line between wry, observational writing that is content to reflect on the human condition without imposing a traditional narrative structure, and just telling stories that don't really go anywhere. Harvey Pekar, in his autobiographical graphic novel collections, does his best to straddle that line. Sometimes he is on the right side; other times I'm not so sure.
This is the second collection of American Splendor I have read. The basics are this: these are stories written by Harvey Pekar about his own life. Some of them are about his job as a file clerk at a VA facility in Cleveland. Some of them are about his various neurosis. Some of them are about record collecting or just the little joys and frustrations of life. They are illustrated by different artists, so each story has a different visual feel.
The stories are "slice of life." They do not necessarily have any beginning/middle/end structure. Sometimes they are funny, but often not (though we sort of have the expectation that they should be funny; part of the goodness of American Splendor is in upending this expectation.) Here's the thing though--in the same way that I imagine it could have been tiring spending time around Harvey in real life, it can be tiring spending time with him by reading his comics. Sometimes you kind of wish he would just get it together a little. Or maybe come to a point of some kind.
This anthology does cover the 1980s and Harvey's experiences when he was a guest on the David Letterman show several times. This is the event that originally gained Harvey national notoriety and it is interesting to read about it from his somewhat unreliable perspective.
I do recommend the American Splendor film that was produced based on Harvey's life if you want a flavor of what you are getting into with these books. On the whole, I feel pretty neutral about my reading experience with this second anthology. I'm all in favor of graphic novels geared toward adult audiences, but this is probably not the place to start for those wishing to dip their toe into the water.
This is the second collection of American Splendor I have read. The basics are this: these are stories written by Harvey Pekar about his own life. Some of them are about his job as a file clerk at a VA facility in Cleveland. Some of them are about his various neurosis. Some of them are about record collecting or just the little joys and frustrations of life. They are illustrated by different artists, so each story has a different visual feel.
The stories are "slice of life." They do not necessarily have any beginning/middle/end structure. Sometimes they are funny, but often not (though we sort of have the expectation that they should be funny; part of the goodness of American Splendor is in upending this expectation.) Here's the thing though--in the same way that I imagine it could have been tiring spending time around Harvey in real life, it can be tiring spending time with him by reading his comics. Sometimes you kind of wish he would just get it together a little. Or maybe come to a point of some kind.
This anthology does cover the 1980s and Harvey's experiences when he was a guest on the David Letterman show several times. This is the event that originally gained Harvey national notoriety and it is interesting to read about it from his somewhat unreliable perspective.
I do recommend the American Splendor film that was produced based on Harvey's life if you want a flavor of what you are getting into with these books. On the whole, I feel pretty neutral about my reading experience with this second anthology. I'm all in favor of graphic novels geared toward adult audiences, but this is probably not the place to start for those wishing to dip their toe into the water.
February 5, 2011
Pekar's work (at least as far as I can tell from this anthology) seems to find beauty in the banal - or if not beauty, then at least some sense of artistic merit to the meandering unresolved experienced of everyday life without trying to force meaning onto it. I appreciate that.
Furthermore, the variety of artists seems to echo the fluctuation of memory and the uncertainty of perception. This serves to echo the idea that there is no such thing as "things as they are" even if most of the artists work in something close to a realist style (which in itself shows how widely different and debatable "realism" can be).
Up to this point my only exposure to American Splendor was the film, which I think does the comic an injustice by trying to make Pekar into "someone" by virtue of his everyday schlub status. The comic does a much better job of seeding doubt over time than the film does, even though it tries by including both the actor version of Pekar and his friends/co-workers and the real versions. Pekar's curmudgeonly neurotic attitude is not as endearing in the comic, which I think is better for what he's trying to do as well.
My biggest complaint about the anthology is that it doesn't seem reprint these stories in the order they were published, there is no indication of which issues of the comic they come from and there are no page numbers to the anthology itself - but that is just technical stuff. More seriously, some of the comics (esp. what seems to be early stuff) slide over into the realm of racial caricature and that bugs the hell out of me. This stuff was included at the end of the anthology so I was more willing to overlook it. If it had come early I might not have given the whole book a chance.
Furthermore, the variety of artists seems to echo the fluctuation of memory and the uncertainty of perception. This serves to echo the idea that there is no such thing as "things as they are" even if most of the artists work in something close to a realist style (which in itself shows how widely different and debatable "realism" can be).
Up to this point my only exposure to American Splendor was the film, which I think does the comic an injustice by trying to make Pekar into "someone" by virtue of his everyday schlub status. The comic does a much better job of seeding doubt over time than the film does, even though it tries by including both the actor version of Pekar and his friends/co-workers and the real versions. Pekar's curmudgeonly neurotic attitude is not as endearing in the comic, which I think is better for what he's trying to do as well.
My biggest complaint about the anthology is that it doesn't seem reprint these stories in the order they were published, there is no indication of which issues of the comic they come from and there are no page numbers to the anthology itself - but that is just technical stuff. More seriously, some of the comics (esp. what seems to be early stuff) slide over into the realm of racial caricature and that bugs the hell out of me. This stuff was included at the end of the anthology so I was more willing to overlook it. If it had come early I might not have given the whole book a chance.
July 6, 2012
It ain’t no Fifty Shade of Hunger Crap or nuthin but I like it. My only criticism might be that not all of the illustrators are as good or as interesting as others. On a side note, I am not one who worships Robert Crumb. Don’t get me wrong, I like Bob’s work but he’s not the best artist to have ever illustrated an issue of American Splendor. This New American Splendor Anthology has a couple of the Letterman appearances (from Harvey’s perspective of course). American Splendor is genuine and original. I really don’t do phony and derivative. Sue me if I sound like a fan.
P.S. Please don’t sue me!
P.S. Please don’t sue me!
June 22, 2015
Harvey Pekar is a sort of a hero of mine. Well, not really, but he's drive and passion to let the world know about all the sht in the world is something I can relate to.
Never wanna visit Cleveland.
Ever.
Was John Waters from Cleveland too? If he was, then maybe I'd wanna visit his childhood home once.
Anyhow, back to Mr Pekar.
He went through alot but also had alot of things just happen to him.
Sometimes it was depressing just how passive he was and let things just fall on him. Sometimes it is how I feel most of the time.
So, I guess I must seem very depressed to other people at times too.
Mr Pekar takes the win, though.
Never wanna visit Cleveland.
Ever.
Was John Waters from Cleveland too? If he was, then maybe I'd wanna visit his childhood home once.
Anyhow, back to Mr Pekar.
He went through alot but also had alot of things just happen to him.
Sometimes it was depressing just how passive he was and let things just fall on him. Sometimes it is how I feel most of the time.
So, I guess I must seem very depressed to other people at times too.
Mr Pekar takes the win, though.
February 2, 2012
Great Pekar writing, good art (for the most part) but in a terrible printing with smudged lines and text almost everywhere: one of the stories was very difficult to read! Other than that, this includes a lot of the American Splendor stories from the 80s and a few unpublished stories from the beginnings of AS.
Read
August 4, 2010Life sucked in the 80s but stuff still happened.
May 11, 2019
Odd, very unconventional, but in it's own way, briliant.
September 29, 2023
Some folks turn to alcohol or drugs when things go south. I turn to reading a Harvey Pekar book. It was during a long, brutally cold snap earlier this month when I decided to bask in Pekar's philosophies on life. Pekar seldom gives you the answers, but his work seems to point the reader in the right direction. Indeed, Pekar's self doubts keep him from finding the answers himself.
Pekar gives you real slices of life stories from the man on the street angle. There aren't too many regular Joe, working man on the street types anymore. Everyone acts like they are too good for everything, too smart, or too rich. The reality of the situation is that those folks are acting the fool, and Pekar is in on the joke.
I checked out the American Splendor movie from 2003 from the library just after I finished this book, and I'm glad that I did. I like to read the source material before seeing a film. Half of this book wound up in the film. Toby and the Revenge Of The Nerds segment, Pekar's numerous visits on The David Letterman Show, and a few other small bits that are reprinted here come to life in that film. The movie is of course fantastic.
There are a lot of one page gags and asides that Pekar did for other comics that do not feature Our Man (the name of Harvey Pekar in comic book form). Most of them are forgettable. This is a less personal take on Our Man than in the other Pekar books that I've read so far but it is still essential reading.
The artwork is a mixed bag, and most of it is not my cup of tea. I really enjoyed Drew Friedman's artwork a lot, and there is a helping of Crumb which doesn't hurt things either.
I'll continue my Pekar marathon whenever I hit a bump in life. Stay tuned.
Pekar gives you real slices of life stories from the man on the street angle. There aren't too many regular Joe, working man on the street types anymore. Everyone acts like they are too good for everything, too smart, or too rich. The reality of the situation is that those folks are acting the fool, and Pekar is in on the joke.
I checked out the American Splendor movie from 2003 from the library just after I finished this book, and I'm glad that I did. I like to read the source material before seeing a film. Half of this book wound up in the film. Toby and the Revenge Of The Nerds segment, Pekar's numerous visits on The David Letterman Show, and a few other small bits that are reprinted here come to life in that film. The movie is of course fantastic.
There are a lot of one page gags and asides that Pekar did for other comics that do not feature Our Man (the name of Harvey Pekar in comic book form). Most of them are forgettable. This is a less personal take on Our Man than in the other Pekar books that I've read so far but it is still essential reading.
The artwork is a mixed bag, and most of it is not my cup of tea. I really enjoyed Drew Friedman's artwork a lot, and there is a helping of Crumb which doesn't hurt things either.
I'll continue my Pekar marathon whenever I hit a bump in life. Stay tuned.
July 27, 2024
Still buzzing off the high from reading Pekar's first American Splendor anthology, I grabbed this one up and... and I didn't enjoy it as much. Not that I think his schtick is wearing thin - it doesn't. It's just that this is very autobiographical, and as Pekar gets famous, his everyday life becomes less everyday, and less interesting as his life progresses. I grew weary during the David Letterman encounter, and at the consciously self-referential nature of this volume. At one point, Pekar's character even breaks the fourth wall and admits his work is getting self-referential, as if he too was aware of the issue - but what's a guy to do? End of the day, I read his work for his droll takes on everyday life, and when we get glimpses of that and the other averages Joes he encounters and their stories - that's when the volume really shines. I guess the lesson to take home from this volume is that fame makes one a less interesting person. Which we should've known all long.
November 8, 2025
i loved describing this to other people. “so this one is about how harvey wants to write a book review and he gets another book by the same author to read at work and he reads it during his break but then his wife gets locked out of the house and he has to go back to let her in but when he gets back he cant find the book so he goes out to buy a new copy and he finds a wallet in the snow and his wife makes him return the wallet before buying the book so they go over to him but harveys antsy the whole time so they go to the bookstore right after.oh and they find a lottery ticket. but it turns out its not valid anymore” “is it funny?” “well not really”
May 11, 2021
Another classic collection of true life stories form Harvey Pekar, covering everything from his interviews with David Letterman to his home life in Cleveland, OH. Pekar brings a gritty, matter of fact take on the world, and while you might not agree with his politics (he does veer a bit to the left), but he does it in such a compelling and entertaining way it makes it instantly readable. The collection of artists he has is outstanding, notably R. Crumb, whose style naturally syncs with Pekar's writing. One of the best independent comics ever produced.
August 5, 2023
These comics are excellent if you like this sort of thing. Slice-of-life autobiographical vignettes that seem primarily pointless. There is no situation-disruption-resolution structure, setup, or punchline, just observation and reflection. They cover things like conversations with friends and strangers, a plot synopsis of a book or movies he has consumed, looking for his lost glasses, and real day-to-day stuff. Sometimes they are fascinating, sometimes they are frustrating. As a whole, each is like a tiny piece of a puzzle that is Harvey Pekar.
November 2, 2021
I’m giving it four stars not because of its content, which is mostly top-notch. But this edition unfortunately doesn’t do the material justice. The binding is flimsy and the printing is painful - some of the stories are unreadable. Truly a shame. Here’s hoping Mr. Pekar’s work gets some better Re-releases in the future, as it surely deserves.
August 17, 2024
Note to self: You find this boring, although you understand that others may like it. Occasional chuckle or insight but otherwise not enough to maintain interest. Adding an extra star because you're a nice guy.
November 12, 2016
This anthology, unlike the first one read earlier, has multiple artists, which makes the strips very different but still very entertaining.
November 1, 2019
It's real good. The things they changed in the movie seem to bother me the more I read his books.
January 15, 2020
I think I'm starting to realise that I'm just really not a short stories person, I need something longer than I can really get into
Read for a class
Read for a class
February 27, 2023
Loved it. I’m in a Harvey Pekar rabbit hole at the moment.
September 2, 2023
Dry humor and eclectic art styles. Harvey Pekar is the beloved predecessor to Larry David.
November 20, 2023
3.2 is a gift from me to this book
I was half bored and half interested, that's all I got to say about that.
I was half bored and half interested, that's all I got to say about that.
May 23, 2021
I finished the whole thing in one day. Now I'm a busy guy. I'm up and down town all day working and doing chores and shit. So to find the time to read this in one day? Unheard of. It was great. Pekar's life is a comic by itself.
November 12, 2023
Read this for a comic book class. First and foremost I fucking hated this book. It was dull, nothing happened and to be frank made me wanna fall asleep. But, I can appreciate what this work has done for Cleveland as a whole seeing that I have connections to Cleveland in a few different ways. Seeing the places mentioned in this anthology and having seen them in person was a bit of a out of body experience; probably because Cleveland is not represented in a ton of ways in pop culture. Not like New York or San Francisco or even Chicago. So it was nice to see Cleveland get represented in a nice light as opposed to just being called “the mistake on the lake” again. I did however hate the later comics in this anthology for the way that it talked about women. The only thing I can appreciate about this conversation is how Joyce is portrayed. Joyce always looked very cute and acted in the best of ways and I think that was done intentionally to show how Harvey sees Joyce which is in the best of light, which I think is sweet. I think the comics themselves where really boring, it was like pulling teeth to get me to read this comics where nothing happened. Plus all of the different artists being featured didn’t allow any continuity for the stories. I felt like my experience as the reader was constant getting interrupted by a new artist, sometimes only for a page. Which was frustrating at time to say the least. Because certain comics would be harder to read then others physical because of how the words were drawn or the composition of the panels and characters. That was frustrating. I can say though, I liked seeing Harvey be shown as a human with flaws. He himself was sometimes the butt of the joke and that never hurt his masculinity or pride. He even sometimes did this to paint his friends and family in the best of light. I also enjoyed seeing his real and raw issues with mental illness that he faced even as an adult and it made myself feel seen as a young adult with mental illness. Or at least mental struggles in the least. I felt very seen in that regard. As a whole, the book is boring but it has some merit. I more so can appreciate what Harvey Peckar has done for comics, specially indie comics and how hard he worked to make his comics into something. And on top of that him portraying Cleveland in a light that feels refreshing to the stereotypes of pop culture and Cleveland, because to some avail I am content and happy about the city, and it feels good to not be the only one to see the simple things of said city. Not a bad book.
April 11, 2012
I don't get the love for this. For the record, I have no problem with autobio comics. There's a way to tell a personal story in an artful and affecting way. Harvey Pekar doesn't do that.
Most of the stories have these awkward endings where he tries to wrap things up with a final line that is maybe supposed to be funny or ironic or though-provoking but every time I would just go "huh? How was that at all funny, ironic or though-provoking?" It's high school-level writing.
The subject matter seems questionable too. Look, not every incident from your life is worth relating. I get that it's supposed to reflect the realities of everyday life in a way that a lot of fiction ignores, but that doesn't make the stories automatically worthwhile or interesting to read, particularly because the execution often seems really amateurish and devoid of artistic skill. Still, occasionally it works for me. The story about arriving at the airport just as the sun is coming up does capture a particular feeling really well. And you also get to know Harvey as a person and he becomes quite endearing (especially when you find out he's a Degrassi Jr High fan).
It might be the art that contributes to feeling of sloppiness here. He gets some winners like Crumb and Jim Woodring, but a large chunk of the art just seems really sloppy to me.
Most of the stuff in this volume is from the 80s, and maybe his earlier work would be more to my liking. The end of the book contains a number of pieces that are older and/or were published outside of the main American Splendor comic and those were the ones I liked the most. The two that he did with Chester Brown actually made me laugh out loud, the only laughs this book provided.
Most of the stories have these awkward endings where he tries to wrap things up with a final line that is maybe supposed to be funny or ironic or though-provoking but every time I would just go "huh? How was that at all funny, ironic or though-provoking?" It's high school-level writing.
The subject matter seems questionable too. Look, not every incident from your life is worth relating. I get that it's supposed to reflect the realities of everyday life in a way that a lot of fiction ignores, but that doesn't make the stories automatically worthwhile or interesting to read, particularly because the execution often seems really amateurish and devoid of artistic skill. Still, occasionally it works for me. The story about arriving at the airport just as the sun is coming up does capture a particular feeling really well. And you also get to know Harvey as a person and he becomes quite endearing (especially when you find out he's a Degrassi Jr High fan).
It might be the art that contributes to feeling of sloppiness here. He gets some winners like Crumb and Jim Woodring, but a large chunk of the art just seems really sloppy to me.
Most of the stuff in this volume is from the 80s, and maybe his earlier work would be more to my liking. The end of the book contains a number of pieces that are older and/or were published outside of the main American Splendor comic and those were the ones I liked the most. The two that he did with Chester Brown actually made me laugh out loud, the only laughs this book provided.
August 20, 2025
I’ve not read many graphic novels in my life; however, I found this one fascinating! Harvey Pekar chronicled his entire life in comic book form. Now, normally when you read a memoir, you’ll read all about tremendous life adventures and perseverance against all odds. This book—this graphic novel— is different.
It details Pekar’s life in all its triumphant mundanity: He sells his records, captures random conversations, goes to the market. All insignificant events one might typically not think to apply any value to. This is the story of an ordinary man’s life; a life in which Harvey plays the hero, (all faults and shortcomings included).
It goes to show how many of us lead very similar lives; yet, is ordinary life any less thrilling? There is a wealth of insight into the human condition in his stories: love, loss, growing up, coming to terms with your heritage and identity, etc.
I found this story fascinating, not only for its originality, but for ability to capture the raw truths of life. Harvey Pekar is often referred to as, “Poet Laureate of Cleveland.” He lived an ordinary life, and with courage and innovation, he turned his ordinary life into art!
It details Pekar’s life in all its triumphant mundanity: He sells his records, captures random conversations, goes to the market. All insignificant events one might typically not think to apply any value to. This is the story of an ordinary man’s life; a life in which Harvey plays the hero, (all faults and shortcomings included).
It goes to show how many of us lead very similar lives; yet, is ordinary life any less thrilling? There is a wealth of insight into the human condition in his stories: love, loss, growing up, coming to terms with your heritage and identity, etc.
I found this story fascinating, not only for its originality, but for ability to capture the raw truths of life. Harvey Pekar is often referred to as, “Poet Laureate of Cleveland.” He lived an ordinary life, and with courage and innovation, he turned his ordinary life into art!
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