The R. Crumb Handbook

"Crumb's material comes out of a deep sense of the absurdity of human life. At a certain kind of psychological level there aren't any heroes, there aren't any villains, there aren't any heroines, and even the victims are comic." - Robert Hughes

About the Author :
Now internationally recongnized as an artist, cartoonist Robert Crumb once proclaimed, "I am not a STAR! I am just...half a STAR!" Two award-winning documentries have been made about his life and career. He hides with his wife and muse Aline in the South of France.

Review :
Packed with photographs and some of Crumb's best known comics - including much explicit and inflammatory material - this is perhaps the most accessible and just plain fun of the multitude of Crumb histories.; Publishers Weekly US; A greatest hits package interspersed with sideswipes at people who have ripped him off.; The Sunday Telegraph UK; The fullest view to date of Crumb the man, solidifying this apparent booty-chasing misanthrope and boater-sporting nostalgic to an unprecedented degree.; Modern Painters magazine; A freaky, far out, bona-fide genius; The Independent newspaper UK; Not so much a handbook, as a beautifully-illustrated multi-media autobiography of our finest living cartoonist, and perhaps the best single volume ever devoted to a comics creator.; Comic Book Galaxy; A unique, beautiful book - It's definitely got the elements for being a bestseller.; Jim Killen, Barnes and Noble; The coolest cat of all; Time Magazine Europe; Robert Crumb does for cartooning what the late Hunter S. Thompson did for journalism.; Charles Shaar Murray Independent newspaper UK; Through his wonderfully drawn and written confessions comes creeping deep understanding of weakness and of fear and unexpectedly, there also comes reassurance: you are not alone.; Nicholas Garland Daily Telegraph, UK; No-one explodes that festering morass of American mass media on to paper quite like Robert Crumb.; Dazed and Confused magazine UK; Mordant, grotesque, extremely funny and vividly personal... a graphically illustrated history of a culture that is deeply divided and confused: on race, sex, politics and the American Dream.; Claire Allfree, Metro newspaper London; Crumb is a genuinely democratic satirist, in the fierce over-the-top way of a James Gillray - hyperbole and aggression relieved by brief intermissions of tenderness.; Robert Hughes, The Guardian newspaper UK; His cartoons throb with horniness, bulge with priapic intent, ache to do something unspeakable...; John Walsh, The Independent newspaper, London; Weird and repulsive, visually compelling and frequently profound.; Malcolm Jones, Newsweek; A pleasure indeed: informative, hefty, compact - just what a good handbook should be. It will delight longtime Crumb fans and if you want to gain unique insight into the last 40 year's of our nation's history, you could do far worse.; L. K. Hanson, Minneapolis Star Tribune; This collection has great appeal to both crumb neophytes and Crumb obsessives ...The R Crumb Handbook works as both an introduction to and enrichment of the author's work.; Andrew D, Arnold, Time magazine; Crumb is one of the few cartoonists that can transcend the category.; Calvin Reid and Laurel Maury, Publishers' Weekly; More than just a new outlet to whinge. The brick-like R Crumb Handbook is a reliable sampler of Crumb's art and tumultuous life story.; Christopher Hutsil, Toronto Star; He gives us a deeply felt litany of hate, yet R Crumb is clearly one who loves and we love him. Keep on Truckin'; Peter Blegvad, The Spectator, London; Rich and densely compacted anthology cum memoir cum mulch-heap scrapbook: finally Huck Finn's voraciously dysfunctional answer to the Boy Scout Handbook.; Howard Hampton, Village Voice; Comic legend on politics, censorship and big butts; Rolling Stone magazine; This book gives us the experience of direct communication with, I'll say it again, our finest living cartoonist. I defy anyone to experience this book and argue that distinction.; Brendan Bernhard, LA Weekly