Product Description

In this all-new graphic novel, Harvey Pekar - whose award-winning series "American Splendor" became a feted movie - tells the story of his teen years for the first time. When he failed to impress, whether on the football team, in math class, in the Navy or on the job, Pekar simply gave up! A true tour-de-force, "The Quitter" is the universal tale of a young man's search for himself through the frustrations, redemptions and complexities of ordinary life. Featuring the atmospheric artwork of Dean Haspiel ("American Splendor"), "The Quitter" is both Pekar's funniest and most heart-wrenching work yet, an unforgettable read for all those, like Pekar, who have tried, failed and lived to quit another day.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #45882 in Books
• Published on: 2006-12-22
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 104 pages

Review
"Just dazzling. Finally, a comic book hero who is easier to identify with than any X-person, Hulk, Daredevil or Terminatrix." - The Guardian"

About the Author
Harvey Pekar, retired hospital file clerk and music critic, is best known for his autobiographical slice-of-life comic book series American Splendor, a first-person account of Pekar's downtrodden life. Dean Haspiel is the Eisner award-nominated artist of Billy Dogma, Opposable Thumbs and many more independent comics, including American Splendor.

Customer Reviews

No shame in quitting
This autobiographical graphic novel examines Pekar's early life and failures in the 1950s and 60s; growing up in a conservative Polish Jewish family in a very tough working class neighbourhood in Cleveland. Although it covers ground touched upon in his other works there is still a lot here for Pekar devotees. Newcomers will also find this a convenient place to access Pekar, as it fleshes out his early life to an extent that his other books have not.

Pekar has never attempted to hide the fact that he is neurotic and eccentric, sometimes unbearably so. Therein lies the charm of his comics. 'The Quitter' is more disturbing though. We see that the young Pekar experienced a crippling obsessive compulsive disorder which rendered him all but unemployable and unable to complete higher education. Juxtaposed with this is a childhood of routine extreme violence, often racially motivated. The young Pekar is forced to defend himself on a daily basis until fighting becomes a passion rather than a necessity. Pekar presents these aspects of himself as documentary, not courting our sympathy and bearing no grudges whatsoever, but it is impossible to read this book without feeling that it was only by pure luck that this affable comic book writer escaped a youth in prison.

So, it's a story of hope. It shows us that things can turn out okay, and that modest success must never be underrated. It also shows us that quitting is sometimes the best policy.

The Quitter
Although less well-known than 'American Splendor', 'The Quitter' is an equally compelling autobiographical graphic novel by Harvey Pekar. Pekar chooses this time to provide readers with an insight into his turbulent and frustrating youth, a time where he simply quit anything, be it sport or work or relationships, that didn't come easy to him. The writing is as brutally honest and intriguing as those who have read his previous works have come to expect and the exceptionally fine art by Dean Haspiel really captures the essence of how Pekar sees himself.