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
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"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
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"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

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.

In Not the Israel My Parents Promised Me, one of the final graphic memoirs from the man who defined the genre, Pekar explores what it means to be Jewish and what Israel means to the Jews. Over the course of a single day in his hometown of Cleveland, Ohio, Pekar and the illustrator JT Waldman wrestle with the mythologies passed down to them. Combining his increasing disillusionment with Israel with an account of the Jewish people since biblical times, Pekar, aided by Waldman's protean art, weaves a personal and historical odyssey of uncommon power. Plainspoken and empathetic, Pekar had no patience for injustice and prejudice, and he arrives at the firm belief that all peoples should be held to the same universal standards of decency, fairness, and democracy. With an epilogue written by Joyce Brabner, Not the Israel My Parents Promised Me is an essential book for fans of Pekar and anyone interested in the past and future of the Jewish state.

The stories of the hard-rock miners' shooting wars, young Elizabeth Gurly Flynn (the "Rebel Girl" of contemporary sheet music), the first sit-down strikes and Free Speech fights, Emma Goldman and the struggle for birth control access, the Pageant for Paterson orchestrated in Madison Square Garden, bohemian radicals John Reed and Louise Bryant, field-hand revolts and lumber workers' strikes, wartime witch hunts, government prosecutions and mob lynching, Mexican-American uprisings in Baja, and Mexican peasant revolts led by Wobblies, hilarious and sentimental songs created and later revived-all are here, and much, much more. The IWW, which has been organizing workers since 1905, is often cited yet elusive to scholars because of its eclectic and controversial cultural and social character. Wobblies! presents the IWW whole, scripted and drawn by old-time and younger Wobbly and IWW-inspired artists. Contributors include Carlos Cortez (former editor of the Industrial Worker), Harvey Pekar (author of American Splendor), Peter Kuper (MAD's Spy vs. Spy), Sue Coe, Seth Tobocman, Chris Cardinale, Ryan Inzana, Spain Rodriques, Trina Robbins, Sharon Rudahl, and the circle of artists for World War 3 Illustrated.

By the late 1960s, America felt like it was teetering on the edge of a vast transformation. Helping push it over that edge was a brigade of young radicals, the Students for a Democratic Society, who were fighting the establishment for peace abroad and equality at home. In "Students for a Democratic Society: A Graphic History," the famed graphic novelist Harvey Pekar, the gifted artist Gary Dumm, the renowned historian Paul Buhle, and a marvelous cast of they-were-there contributors illustrate their struggle, bringing to life the tumultuous decade that first defined and then was defined by the men and women who gathered under the SDS banner.
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Students for a Democratic Society "captures the idealism and activism that drove a generation of young Americans to believe that even one person's actions can help transform the world.