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Conversations with Artists
Harvey Pekar: Conversations
Harvey Pekar's American Splendor is the longest-running and arguably the most influential autobiographical comic book series produced in America. Since 1976, Pekar (b. 1939) has reported on his life through his comics. Pekar's comic books deal with his life as a Veterans Administration clerk and freelance music critic; his friends and coworkers and their stories; and his home city of Cleveland. Pekar's struggles with physical and mental problems, a low-paying job, Hollywood, marriage, his daughter's adoption, and success are all laid out in his comics. Pekar prides himself on depicting his life in all its “splendor.”
Harvey Conversations offers almost twenty-five years of interviews from a variety of sources including small fanzines, local public radio shows, and the Washington Post . The volume reveals his thoughts and feelings about comics, autobiography, his appearances on David Letterman's show in the 1980s, his life with cancer, and how a successful 2003 movie adaptation of American Splendor has changed and not changed his life. His comics work has won the National Book Award, spawned theatrical productions, and served as the basis for the award-winning movie starring Paul Giamatti as Pekar.
Harvey Conversations offers almost twenty-five years of interviews from a variety of sources including small fanzines, local public radio shows, and the Washington Post . The volume reveals his thoughts and feelings about comics, autobiography, his appearances on David Letterman's show in the 1980s, his life with cancer, and how a successful 2003 movie adaptation of American Splendor has changed and not changed his life. His comics work has won the National Book Award, spawned theatrical productions, and served as the basis for the award-winning movie starring Paul Giamatti as Pekar.
240 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2008
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
August 6, 2011
Most of the interviewers asked the same question and, like a trooper, Pekar gave the same answers, staying on message. Thus, there's a lot of repetition in this book. The main thing you derive from it is a sense of Pekar's true financial situation, which is always unclear from reading his work. The spoiler from this book on that would be - Pekar is telling the truth in each of his own publications, so just believe what you infer from those.
January 21, 2024
If you like Harvey, you gotta pick this up. I can't believe it only has 23 reviews on here. I get that it's an academic text, but come on. It's great to hear Harvey talking about his comics and see the progress of his life another way. If you've gone as far as to read this and don't own a copy, go buy one!
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews