Huntington, West Virginia "On the Fly"
  • Published: 15 August 2011
  • ISBN: 9780345499417
  • Imprint: Ballantine
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 176
  • RRP: $45.00

Huntington, West Virginia "On the Fly"

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All Harvey Pekar did was sit down and write about his dull and boring life--now people are calling him the godfather of autobiographical comics. Featuring the work of a major new graphic novel artist, Summer McClinton, this series of five stories written by Pekar describes the lives of the colorful people that populated Harvey's world (of course Harvey is in there, too).

With an appreciation by Anthony Bourdain
 
HAVE ATTITUDE, WILL TRAVEL
 
Harvey Pekar changed the face of comics when his American Splendor series replaced traditional slam-bang superhero action with slice-of-life tales of his own very ordinary existence in Cleveland, Ohio, as a file clerk, jazz-record collector, and philosophical curmudgeon. Much as Seinfeld famously transcended sitcom conventions by being “a show about nothing,” Pekar’s deadpan chronicles of regular life—peppered with wry and caustic reflections—have transformed comics from escapist fantasy into social commentary with voice balloons.

Huntington, West Virginia “On the Fly” is prime Pekar, recounting the irascible everyman’s on-the-road encounters with a cross section of characters—a career criminal turned limo-driving entrepreneur, a toy merchant obsessed with restoring a vintage diner, comic-book archivists, indie filmmakers, and children of the sixties—all of whom have stories to tell. By turns funny, poignant, and insightful, these portraits à la Pekar showcase a one-of-a-kind master at work, channeling the stuff of average life into genuine American art.
  • Published: 15 August 2011
  • ISBN: 9780345499417
  • Imprint: Ballantine
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 176
  • RRP: $45.00
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About the author

Harvey Pekar

Harvey Pekar, a native of Cleveland, is best known for his autobiographical slice-of-life comic book series American Splendor, a first-person account of his downtrodden life, which was made into a movie starring Paul Giamatti. He is also the author of Best of American Splendor and American Splendor: Our Movie Year. He is an omnivorous reader, and obsessive-compulsive collector, and a jazz critic whose reviews have been published in The Boston Herald, The Austin Chronicle, and Jazz Times. He has done freelance work for the critically acclaimed radio station WKSU and has appeared eight times on Late Night with David Letterman and two times on The Late Show with David Letterman.

Praise for Huntington, West Virginia "On the Fly"

Praise for Harvey Pekar:

  • "Harvey Pekar, author of the American Splendor comic book series, is one of the genre's pre-eminent writers." --The Chicago Tribune
  • "Mr. Pekar lets all of life flood into his panels: the humdrum and the heroic, the gritty and the grand." --The New York Times Book Review
  • "[Pekar] has a vision that makes daily life-- a ride on the bus, a run-in with a boss, or simply bread--dramatic." --Chicago Sun-Times