Harvey Pekar

I am a moron and a philistine. This is the only explanation I can offer for my failure up until this week to read Harvey Pekar’s extraordinary comic exegesis of his so-called ordinary life, American Splendor. Not to mention Our Cancer Year, an account of Pekar’s harrowing bout with lymphoma that he co-wrote with his wife, Joyce Brabner. If you haven’t read these, get thee to your local library or comic shop right now, lest you sink to my level of philistinism and moronitude.

Pekar also has a new blog, which is very flashy and probably sponsored by the people who are making American Splendor into a movie, but which you should read anyway.

I’m still fairly skeptical of the movie. Movies that cut between live action and cutesy, computer-animated plays on the comic form are usually pretty lousy. But for once, I’ll wait to make up my mind until I’ve actually seen it.

Filed under: culture/comics