In "The Beats: A Graphic History," those who were mad to live have
come back to life through artwork as vibrant as the Beat movement
itself. Told by the comic legend Harvey Pekar, his frequent
artistic collaborator Ed Piskor, and a range of artists and
writers, including the feminist comic creator Trina Robbins and the
"Mad" magazine artist Peter Kuper, "The Beats" takes us on a wild
tour of a generation that, in the face of mainstream American
conformity and conservatism, became known for its determined
uprootedness, aggressive addictions, and startling creativity and
experimentation. What began among a small circle of friends in New
York and San Francisco during the late 1940s and early 1950s laid
the groundwork for a literary explosion, and this striking
anthology captures the storied era in all its incarnations--from
the Benzedrine-fueled antics of Kerouac, Ginsberg, and Burroughs to
the painting sessions of Jay DeFeo's disheveled studio, from the
jazz hipsters to the beatnik chicks, from Chicago's College of
Complexes to San Francisco's famed City Lights bookstore. Snapshots
of lesser-known poets and writers sit alongside frank and
compelling looks at the Beats' most recognizable faces. What
emerges is a brilliant collage of--and tribute to--a generation, in
a form and style that is as original as its subject. Harvey Pekar
is best known for his graphic autobiography, "American Splendor,"
based on his long-running comic-book series that was turned into a
2003 film of the same name.
Paul Buhle is a senior lecturer at Brown University. In "The Beats:
A Graphic History," those who were mad to live have come back to
life through artwork as vibrant as the Beat movement itself. Told
by the comic legend Harvey Pekar, his frequent artistic
collaborator Ed Piskor, and a range of artists and writers,
including the feminist comic creator Trina Robbins and the "Mad"
magazine artist Peter Kuper, "The Beats" takes us on a wild tour of
a generation that, in the face of mainstream American conformity
and conservatism, became known for its determined uprootedness,
aggressive addictions, and startling creativity and
experimentation. What began among a small circle of friends in New
York and San Francisco during the late 1940s and early 1950s laid
the groundwork for a literary explosion, and this striking
anthology captures the storied era in all its incarnations--from
the Benzedrine-fueled antics of Kerouac, Ginsberg, and Burroughs to
the painting sessions of Jay DeFeo's disheveled studio, from the
jazz hipsters to the beatnik chicks, from Chicago's College of
Complexes to San Francisco's famed City Lights bookstore. Snapshots
of lesser-known poets and writers sit alongside frank and
compelling looks at the Beats' most recognizable faces. What
emerges is a brilliant collage of--and tribute to--a generation, in
a form and style that is as original as its subject. "This
revelatory and exhilarating and funny book not only tells us of the
Beat generation, but of a time when we as individuals felt truly
free. It is as fresh and pertinent as the latest scholarly history
only far more entertaining."--Studs Terkel "This revelatory and
exhilarating and funny book not only tells us of the Beat
generation, but of a time when we as individuals felt truly free.
It is as fresh and pertinent as the latest scholarly history only
far more entertaining."--Studs Terkel
"History with a deeper perspective is the province of "The Beats,"
a multifaceted effort led by writer Harvey Pekar, his frequent
collaborator Paul Buhle and artist Ed Piskor. It delivers the
texture of a movement easy to underestimate in brief biographies of
touchstones like poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti, novelists William S.
Burroughs and Jack Kerouac and lesser-known lights like poet d.a.
levy (an underground Cleveland icon) and mythopoeic poetess Diane
di Prima . . . This fearless, substantial history entertains as it
uncovers."--Carlo Wolff, "The Boston Globe
"
"Pekar's history of the post-war literary, cultural and
spiritual awakening is well researched and intended . . . Piskor is
joined by such stellar artists as Kuper, Tooks, Gary Dumm and
Fleener . . . More writers pitch in, too, and the diversity of
images and narrative voices add texture and resonance to the
proceedings . . . The absorbing graphic presentation may elicit
interest from unexpected quarters."--Richard Pachter, "The Miami
Herald"
"Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, and William Burroughs need no
introduction, but here they are introducing "The Beats: A Graphic
History"--in the section written by Harvey Pekar and illustrated by
Ed Piskor. It's warts and all: the alcohol-fueled writings, the
drug-fueled globe-trotting, not to mention the rampant sexuality
and jaw-dropping misogyny . . . But there's humor here too by Joyce
Brabner and Summer McClinton on a topic ripe for latter-day
ridicule: 'Beatnik Chicks.' Good thing too that Pekar et al. salute
some lesser lights in this primer on the birth of the cool: City
Lights bookstore founder and poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti, in
addition to poets Philip Whalen, Kenneth Patchen, and D.A. Levy,
plus former hobo Slim Brundage."--Leonard Gill, "The Memphis Flyer
"
"Graphic novels don't just have to be about dystopian alternative
universes, no matter if "Watchmen" might indicate otherwise. Just
peruse the eye-catching "The Beats: A Graphic History" (in stores
as of Tuesday), from Harvey Pekar, Ed Piskor and Paul Buhle, which
takes an illustrated look back at a very real part of American
pop-culture history, when beat culture of the '40s and
'50s--sandwiched between the improvisational nature of jazz and the
recklessness of rock 'n' roll--began to speak to a part of a
generation at odds with mainstream society. One word sums it up:
Cool."--Cary Darling, "Star-Telegram
"
"Do we really need another bio on the lives of Kerouac,
Ginsberg, et. al.? Yes, especially should it be one like "The
Beats." I expected "The Beats" to be dry, regurgitated history
presented in graphic novel form simply because graphic novels are
so 2009. So much for first impressions. "American Splendor"'s Pekar
leads a troop of writers who bring these influential--and often
seriously flawed--writers to life . . . "The Beats" is strong,
dramatic storytelling that is executed and illustrated by major
leaguers."--Randy Myers, "Contra Costa Times"
"Written by Harvey Pekar and four other authors, with art by eleven
cartoonists and illustrators, "The Beats" covers all the major
writers of the generation--Kerouac, William S. Burroughs, Allen
Ginsberg, Philip Whalen, Robert Duncan, Lawrence Ferlinghetti,
Charles Olson, Diane DiPrima, and many more. 'No one claims this
treatment to be definitive, ' Buhle and Pekar write in their
introduction to the book. 'But it is new and it is vital.' And,
perhaps more important, it's fun."--"Poets & Writers"
"If you're a fan of Harvey Pekar, author of the successful
graphic novel-turned-film "American Splendor," then you can imagine
how his voice sounds on a weekday morning, discussing topics
including homophobia, Yiddish, and moves about Joseph McCarthy. In
his latest project, "The Beats: A Graphic History," Pekar conjures
an imagined, often hilarious d
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