Having liked other volumes in this series pertaining to films, I held out hope that this tome would be a useful one in defining the career of Robert Crumb…Alas, I cannot recommend this book. Basically, my main problem with this book is the lack of illustrations. Without them the reviews of the various strips Crumb has created come off as something akin to a book report on comics…What’s the point? Just go out and find the comic. All of the comics reviewed are in print, and frankly the $6.95 would be better spent on the works themselves. There are many typos within the book making some sentences read awkward and hard to figure out…Dates for publications are not always correct, and the book feels as if it could have used a proofreader. On a positive note, it does include a new interview with R. Crumb conducted by mail which does shine some new light on what he’s been up to, but if you’ve seen the Crumb Documentary and read the R. Crumb Coffee table book, then this book is pretty redundant…If you haven’t done the above, put the money you’d spend on this thin volume towards those two items for a much better overview of “The Works Of Crumb”. Sorry Mr. Holm, but I do look forward to your anthology of Crumb Interviews mentioned on the back cover…That will probably be more worth it.
Rating: 2 / 5

It amazes (and dismays) me that there’s no serious secondary work on the art of R. Crumb. He’s one of the most important artistic voices to come out of late twentieth-century America. His satiric comix offer social criticism, invite us to rethink sexual and racial taboos, and delight us with their skillful and beautiful artwork. Crumb’s influence on a whole generation of artists, literati, musicians, cultural commentators, and ordinary guys like me is undisputed. Yet the scholars insist on ignoring him, and this is bothersome.

That’s why D.K. Holm’s little book is refreshing, even though inadequate. It’s relatively up to date, appearing merely five years ago, and ends with a 2002 interview with Crumb (which is also reprinted in Holm’s R. Crumb: Conversations, University of Mississippi Press). Moreover, the book provides a decent overview of Crumb’s life and career, although curiously the biographical chapters get thinner as the book progresses and Crumb ages; you’d think just the opposite ought to happen. Finally, Holm offers pretty good synopses of some of Crumb’s most pivotal work, including (somewhat uncritical) evaluations of it. Along the way, Holm briefly discusses some of the influences on Crumb, a few of the themes in his work, and the phases his work has gone through: from greeting card stuff to the LSD-inspired breakthrough to the years of despair, to the move toward realism to the latest (although only mentioned) “mystic” stage.

All this is to the good, and Holm is to be thanked. But it’s all too brief, too impressionistic, too sketchy. What we really need is someone (Robert Hughes, perhaps?) either to put together a collection of critical essays on Crumb the artist/thinker/iconoclast, or to write a booklength critical examination of him. But until that time comes, Holm’s little book is at least something.
Rating: 4 / 5

I can’t imagine a better book for becoming acquainted with one of our national treasures. I’d read others of the Pocket Essentials series, and this is one of the best. For those looking for fully-illustrated narratives, they’d best look elsewhere. But bang-for-the-buck’ers (like me) are well served. Especially liked the interview.
Rating: 5 / 5