Rating: 
Summary: The little guy that lives inside Crumb's brain bursts out
Review: There's a line that R. Crumb uses twice, in two separate comics, that epitomizes the major themes of his art: "Nobody understands [me]... and of course, how could they??" Periodically his work will stumble into a pit of naval gazing and self-indulgence when it comes to the subjects for his comics. But ultimately, everything he does boils down to this one line. The level of self-awareness he manages to achieve with this line, and throughout the remainder of his work, is both staggering and fascinating, enough to justify the grandiosity of this book.I tried to read this as an autobiography, from cover to cover, taking time to carefully understand how the context of Crumb's life affected his work. Not an effective strategy. If the book wasn't so cumbersome to hold, it might have worked. But since that first reading, I've gotten much more enjoyment just laying the book open flat on a large surface, and staring at the audacious art contained herein. The large-scale (13"x11") format has various levels of effectiveness when presenting Crumb's work. The sketchbook pages, when blown up to this size, lose their intimacy. You can see the fudges and mistakes that Crumb's made. These imperfections are beautiful in the smaller format, but become grotesque and distracting at this size. On the other hand, too often his comic book covers should have been enlarged but weren't. The details in the margins, brought out gloriously when they are blown up, can't be seen when the covers are presented as thumbnails. Each chapter begins with a page-long, hand-written introduction by the man himself. Robert is self-effacing to a fault; you can tell that he's embarrassed by the treatment his works have been given here. He never intended them for such a wide audience, and now the incoherent ramblings of his inner mind are getting the coffee table book treatment! It's preposterous! That being said, he does a fine job trying to explain his own psychology, getting at his motivations for creating the art he did, and never apologizing for any of it. And I found that if you read his writings while imagining that great laid-back drawl of his, the experience is that much more enjoyable. The book is a perfect companion piece for anyone who's seen Terry Zwigoff's stunning documentary, "Crumb". Many of the pieces shown in that movie turn up here too, only instead of just snippets we get the whole work. Most notable is the inclusion of "A Bitchin' Bod'!", in which the notorious Devil Girl, her head removed, is given by Mr. Natural to Flakey Foont, who proceeds to defile it, only to feel terribly guilty afterwards. This comic got the most attention from the intellectuals dissecting Crumb in the movie, and it's here in all its glory. True, it's hideously misogynistic, but it's also a fine example of what makes Crumb's work so awe-inspiring. He has a unique ability to mine his id for material, to lay his fantasies bare, and damn the consequences. A fascinating foray into one man's artistic (and by association, personal) life, "The R. Crumb Coffee Table Art Book" would work splendidly on anyone's coffee table. That is, if you had the nerve to actually put it on your coffee table. If you want to freak out your friends, and educate them about the twisted depths that men's souls can achieve, you should.
Rating:
Summary: The little guy that lives inside Crumb's brain bursts out
Review: There's a line that R. Crumb uses twice, in two separate comics, that epitomizes the major themes of his art: "Nobody understands [me]... and of course, how could they??" Periodically his work will stumble into a pit of naval gazing and self-indulgence when it comes to the subjects for his comics. But ultimately, everything he does boils down to this one line. The level of self-awareness he manages to achieve with this line, and throughout the remainder of his work, is both staggering and fascinating, enough to justify the grandiosity of this book. I tried to read this as an autobiography, from cover to cover, taking time to carefully understand how the context of Crumb's life affected his work. Not an effective strategy. If the book wasn't so cumbersome to hold, it might have worked. But since that first reading, I've gotten much more enjoyment just laying the book open flat on a large surface, and staring at the audacious art contained herein. The large-scale (13"x11") format has various levels of effectiveness when presenting Crumb's work. The sketchbook pages, when blown up to this size, lose their intimacy. You can see the fudges and mistakes that Crumb's made. These imperfections are beautiful in the smaller format, but become grotesque and distracting at this size. On the other hand, too often his comic book covers should have been enlarged but weren't. The details in the margins, brought out gloriously when they are blown up, can't be seen when the covers are presented as thumbnails. Each chapter begins with a page-long, hand-written introduction by the man himself. Robert is self-effacing to a fault; you can tell that he's embarrassed by the treatment his works have been given here. He never intended them for such a wide audience, and now the incoherent ramblings of his inner mind are getting the coffee table book treatment! It's preposterous! That being said, he does a fine job trying to explain his own psychology, getting at his motivations for creating the art he did, and never apologizing for any of it. And I found that if you read his writings while imagining that great laid-back drawl of his, the experience is that much more enjoyable. The book is a perfect companion piece for anyone who's seen Terry Zwigoff's stunning documentary, "Crumb". Many of the pieces shown in that movie turn up here too, only instead of just snippets we get the whole work. Most notable is the inclusion of "A Bitchin' Bod'!", in which the notorious Devil Girl, her head removed, is given by Mr. Natural to Flakey Foont, who proceeds to defile it, only to feel terribly guilty afterwards. This comic got the most attention from the intellectuals dissecting Crumb in the movie, and it's here in all its glory. True, it's hideously misogynistic, but it's also a fine example of what makes Crumb's work so awe-inspiring. He has a unique ability to mine his id for material, to lay his fantasies bare, and damn the consequences. A fascinating foray into one man's artistic (and by association, personal) life, "The R. Crumb Coffee Table Art Book" would work splendidly on anyone's coffee table. That is, if you had the nerve to actually put it on your coffee table. If you want to freak out your friends, and educate them about the twisted depths that men's souls can achieve, you should.
Rating: 
Summary: The Amazing Id Of Robert Crumb
Review: There's an illustration on the back cover of The R. Crumb Coffee Table Art Book that perfectly encapsulates the artist's work - it depicts the top of Robert's head exploding, with several of his creations, famous, infamous, and otherwise, leaping out. That, to me, sums up Crumb's work - this incredibly inventive artist with, to paraphrase Bob Dylan, a head full of ideas that are drivin' him insane. There are frequent complaints about Crumb's work being too dark, racist, sexist, and/or misogynistic. While I can see where these criticisms come from, I really don't think Crumb is any darker, more racist, sexist, or misogynistic than any of us - he simply is unafraid to - COMPELLED to, almost - lay his cards on the table. Some people find this offensive. Would it be absurd of me to suggest that some of those who are offended by his work have their own issues with sexism, racism, and/or misogyny that they are unwilling to confront? What I'm trying to get at here, I guess, is that this IS NOT a book for little kids. There's a sticker on the front of my copy of the book that says "FOR ADULT INTELLECTUALS ONLY!", and while I'm not so sure about the "intellectuals" part, this is probably not a book you want your grade-school age child to get ahold of, unless you're okay with said child seeing depictions of graphic (and I do mean GRAPHIC) sex, hard-core drug use, and extreme (albiet cartoonish) violence. I realize all I've spent all this space talking about Crumb without ever really discussing what I like about his work. I think there's two main things: (1) his unflinching honesty (as I touched upon earlier), and (2) the incredible beauty of his draftsmanship. I think my favotite chapter in the whole book is the one that features his pen-and-ink still-lifes and landscapes. Just beautiful stuff - worth studying for his use of cross-hatching alone. In conclusion, if you're at all interested in checking out the work of one of the finest artists to ever work in the comics medium, I highly recommend you get this book. It's easily worth the 25 bucks. Oh, yeah - and it DOES make a wonderful coffee table book. :)
Rating:
Summary: If you are a Crumb fan this is a must
Review: This is a great book which, if you injoy R. Crumb, you will love! It is full of rich color and great stories. It is visualy beautiful. Crumb leaves full page notes talking about each section of his art. It talkes about his characters and comics in detail! Order this!
Rating:
Summary: Best Place to Start for New Crumb Fans!
Review: This is a GREAT collection that spans most of R. Crumb's LIFE, not just his famous career. This is probably the single best collection and overview of what R. Crumb is all about, available in one single book! It includes many, many strips in full color for the first time. This book is beautiful, so beautiful that even non-Crumb fans would have to agree that this is a classy book, worthy of at least a curious browse. Crumb fans will find hours and hours and hours of comics to read. You get his childhood comics experiments, his pre-fame work as a starving commercial artist, a huge sampling of the 60's stuff that made him famous, and the post-60's autobiographic stuff. Tons of Crumb, indeed! Each chapter starts out with a handwritten commentary about the era, written by R. himself, which is pricelessly insightful, straight from the artist, no second party speculations. This book might even bring in a few new fans. I personally think that this is a great way to sample all of the various styles and types of R.'s work, then you can zero in on your favorite era's when you buy more Crumb books for your library. This book will make you feel like looking for more Crumb. If you buy this book you will NOT be disappointed. Get the hardcover on this one, it's THAT good!
Rating:
Summary: oh, the irony
Review: This is a superb publication to grace your coffee table, but beware! It contains graphic images that both titillate and confront - no wonder Crumb is an outcast in his own country.
Rating:
Summary: oh, the irony
Review: This is a superb publication to grace your coffee table, but beware! It contains graphic images that both titillate and confront - no wonder Crumb is an outcast in his own country.
Rating:
Summary: The Cream De La Crumb Indeed!
Review: This lavishly and lovingly produced book covers the whole of Crumb's extraordinary career to date. I found the hand lettered (by Crumb himself) autobiographical notes at the beginning of each section to be especially delightful, at once scathing, funny, poingnant and touching. Crumb's early work, at American Greatings Cards Company and for Harvy Kurtzman is well covered. I was, however, somewhat dissapointed by the near exclusion of the Crumb-Bum's brilliant, albeit pornographic work from the late 60's through the 80's. I suppose it's an acceptable sacrifice in order to have the book accessible to a larger market. For my money, Bob's an American (in exile) Hero - hopeless geek becomes counter culture icon, and you can bet your bippy that the irony of an expensive "coffee table" collection of his work is not lost on the master - just check out his great work on the cover of the book! If you consider yourself at all a child of the 60's then you NEED to have this book. Nuff Said!
Rating: 
Summary: - - - FEELIN' LUCKY ?
Review: You don't need the lamer bosh of escapist nerd Bob Crumb. You need the integrity and courage of Clint Eastwood. Take the money you were going to blow on this book, and go rent some good Dirty Harry films and Clint's 'Man with no Name' westerns. Of course, if you are unconsciously oppressed and alienated, and looking to become even more lost in your own little cowardly world, Bob 'articial culture' Crumb is the place to go. But it wont get you anywhere. And it will separate you even further from your own potential, and what it means to be a Real Human Being with Real Courage and Integrity. Unreal 'Sleazy Bob,' ultimately, has none. Go ahead. Take risks with your sanity and isolatory tendencies. Maybe a cheap therapy operation will take you in. But it will take you years to recover.
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