{"product_id":"crumb-a-cartoonists-life","title":"Crumb: A Cartoonist's Life","description":"\u003cb\u003eNamed a Best Book of the Year by \u003ci\u003eThe\u003c\/i\u003e \u003ci\u003eWashington Post\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cb\u003e\"A definitive and ideal biography--pound for pound, one of the sleekest and most judicious I've ever read.\" \u003ci\u003e--\u003c\/i\u003eDwight Garner, \u003ci\u003eThe New York Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cb\u003eA critical darling, \u003ci\u003eCrumb\u003c\/i\u003e is the first biography of Robert Crumb--one of the most profound and influential artists of the 20th century--whose frank and meticulously rendered cartoons and comics inspired generations of readers and cartoonists, from Art Spiegelman to Alison Bechdel.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eRobert Crumb is often credited with single-handedly transforming the comics medium into a place for adult expression, in the process pioneering the underground comic book industry, and transforming the vernacular language of 20th-century America into an instantly recognizable and popular aesthetic. Now, for the first time, Dan Nadel, delivers a \"gripping and essential account\" (\u003ci\u003eThe Boston Globe\u003c\/i\u003e) of how this complicated artist survived childhood abuse, fame in his twenties, more fame, and came out the other side intact. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eBraiding biography with \"cultural history and criticism...that honors the complexity of [its] subject, even, perhaps particularly, when it gets ugly\" (\u003ci\u003eLos Angeles Times\u003c\/i\u003e), \u003ci\u003eCrumb\u003c\/i\u003e is the story of a richly complex life at the forefront of both the underground and popular cultures of post-war America. Including forty-five stunning black-and-white images throughout and a sixteen-page color insert featuring images both iconic and obscure, \u003ci\u003eCrumb\u003c\/i\u003e spans the pressures of 1950s suburban America and Crumb's highly dysfunctional early family life; the history of comics and graphic satire; 20th-century popular music; the world of the counterculture; the birth of underground comic books in 1960s San Francisco with Crumb's \u003ci\u003eZap Comix\u003c\/i\u003e; the economic challenges and dissolution of the hippie dream; and the path Robert Crumb blazed through it all. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eWritten with Crumb's cooperation, this fascinating, rollicking book takes in seven decades of Crumb's iconic works, including \u003ci\u003eFritz the Cat\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eWeirdo\u003c\/i\u003e, and his adaptation of \u003ci\u003eThe Book of Genesis \u003c\/i\u003eand \"floats Crumb on the rapids of his times\" (\u003ci\u003eHarper's Magazine\u003c\/i\u003e), capturing, in the process, the essence of an extraordinary artist.","brand":"Dan Nadel","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":52958910513516,"sku":"9781982144005","price":35.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0912\/7985\/1884\/files\/9781982144005-us.jpg?v=1764863139","url":"https:\/\/commercestreetbooks.com\/products\/crumb-a-cartoonists-life","provider":"Commerce Street Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}