Robert Crumb's Book of Genesis

[Xavier_Onassis]

I have been reading Robert Crumb's graphic novel of the Book of Genesis. It is word-for-word and with great illustrations. Crumb ads in a prologue that he does not believe that it is the word of God, but he has been more faithful to the original than others who were believers, who changed the text and left stuff out. Crumb gives a face to everyone mentioned, even those mentioned in the "begats" alone.

I would recommend it to anyone over fifteen or so. It is discrete, but there is sex and nakedness and such. Crumb lives in a small village in the South of France these days.

Harvey Pekar died last week, which saddened me.

[Michael Tee]

<<Crumb lives in a small village in the South of France these days.>>

Smart man.  If I could live wherever I want, that's where I'd live, too.  L'Isle sur la Sorgue.  (The village I'd choose)  http://www.france-voyage.com/en/

Crumb's best days, unfortunately, are way behind him.  I believe some of his Genesis stuff was published in the New Yorker over a year ago.  It was OK, but as the owner of Zap Comix #0 through to 5, I kinda wish Crumb had put away his tooning tools years ago and taken a well-deserved rest.  His other big mistake was co-tooning with his obnoxious,  spotlight-seeking wife.  Nobody's interested in her POV, least of all Crumb's original fans.

[Xavier_Onassis]

You are right, there was an excerpt in the New Yorker. But it really is well-done. I have no real knowledge of hesd wife, other than her appearance in another New Yorker cartoon as a stereotypical Queens Jewish woman, which could have been intended as a joke. I liked the books he did with Harvey Pekar. I imagine that he is pretty well of and gets in all the rest he can stand. Anyway, I liked his Genesis. I have read the entire Bible twice, and still, he adds something significant by putting faces on the characters. I found it at the M-D public library. I believe I mentioned Joe Sacco's Palestine and Footnotes in Gaza, which I am pretty sure you would enjoy.

[Michael Tee]

Thanks, XO, I've got Joe Sacco's Palestine, but I didn't know about Footnotes.  I'll look for it.  This ain't Boston or NYC, but our bookstores here are still pretty good.