The first biography of Robert Crumb—one of the most influential artists of the 20th century—whose cartoons and comics inspired generations of readers and cartoonists, from Art Spiegelman to Alison Bechdel.
Nadel’s gripping and essential book makes good on this claim; his biography is the story of how one highly flawed and preternaturally gifted man augured a revolution in comic book storytelling with his discomfiting, sexually frank, intensely personal oeuvre ... Moving.
You may want to dismiss Crumb as a morsel of some strange loaf, fallen to the ground to be swept away. But today he is shown by David Zwirner, among the bluest of the blue-chip galleries, and his pieces command six figures. The perverts won.
Nadel capably lays it all out for us to see, creating a nuanced picture of an influential figure, whose work shaped the landscape of comics to come. Incorporating interviews with Crumb, his family, and the artists who work with or were inspired by him, this first major biography of the iconic cartoonist is unsparing in its detail, acutely aware of social and historical context, and unapologetically in awe of Crumb’s artistic talent. A revealing portrait of an artist, yes, but also of an art form.
