As I read through this delightful summary of Franz Kafka's life and work, I was struck by the fact that both the Czech writer and the cartoonist R. Crumb have the same anguished yearning for determined young women. Curiously, these all have the strong legs, broad beams, and statuesque torsos of Crumb's fantasy women from Zap Comix to today. Perhaps, Crumb and Kafka have more in common than meets the eye.

They are all there: Gregor Samsa's sister, the luscious Milena Jesenska, the Advocate's "nurse" Leni, Olga and Frieda from THE CASTLE, and the ravishing Dora Diamant. These women are all more durable than both Kafka and Crumb, who are wispy and likely to blow away in the next puff of wind. (I recommend that you see the excellent film documentary of the cartoonist's life, called, appropriately, CRUMB.)

When one concentrates on the women in Kafka's life and work, the result is curiously enlightening. "None of his female characters seems to have her own existence," writes David Zane Mairowitz, "but is spawned in his imagination in order to distract 'K' or 'Joseph K,' to tempt and ensnare him. Kafka's sexual terror is put to the test time after time, yet these same women provide something more.... The outcome of these relationships is rarely 'intimate' (Leni being an exception) and has more to do with power than personal feelings. Kafka's talent would mostly SUGGEST erotic encounter, rather than indulging his characters in that act which he found 'repellent and perfectly useless.'"

Perhaps Mairowitz and Crumb do not provide a measured and scholarly study of the writer, but within a mere 175 pages they have done more to rekindle my interest in Kafka than anything else I have ever read about him. This book is a perfect gem and a work of art in its own right.

As a longtime reader of Kafka, I found this book to be an unqualified delight, for it not only reviews his life and work with pinpoint concision, but also portrays it in evocative visual detail. The narrative by Mairowitz is sharp and insightful, with a zesty peppering of invective against pedants and philistines, while Crumb's gloomy pen drawings take the reader's eye into the heart of Prague and into the mind and imagination of its most anxious and self-conscious denizen. It is especially delightful to track down the original photographs that Crumb used for his models, for example in the book Franz Kafka: Pictures of a Life by Klaus Wagenbach, and then to see how he animates the figure of Kafka, presenting him now as an ordinary person in ordinary life (such as exercising by the window or chewing each bite of food more than ten times), now as a cartoon caricature in his own nightmares (zapped out and fleeing a succubus), now as an idealized figure in his fantasies (the healthy workman, the contented farmer). He also contrives to make the characters of Kafka's fiction resemble the author, but only slightly and appropriately. The loves of Kafka's life, especially Milena, emerge from their photographs as sexy, desirable women, then their images echo through his works. Crumb's portrayals of the stories and novels are not mere impressions, but careful and useful illustrations, since some scenes and particulars in Kafka are not easy to visualize, for example the machine in the story "In the Penal Colony." And, of course, Crumb is absolutely fastidious in basing his drawings on historical materials, so that we can see streets, buildings and dress, including uniforms, just as they were at the time. The presentation of Kafka's works necessarily reduce them to their storyline or plot and cannot do justice to his elaborate narratives, yet even here Mairowitz fixes on a crucial scene or a characteristic twist, which Crumb then illustrates in all its demonic glory. All in all, the book is a total pleasure, as perfect as it could be.

Only one quibble. I would not want a person to look at it first, before reading Kafka. It is much more suitable as a summing up, a personal vision and inspired collaboration of two mad devotees of Kafka. Read Kafka first, a lot of Kafka, then buy this book to sharpen your vision. It's a work of art, comparable to the Expressionism of Kafka's time.

Mairowitz writes a lucid intorduction to the work of the great writer but the real treasure here is the copious artwork by R. Crumb. It's almost like he was born to illustrate Kafka. This is a fully satisfying three-dimensional consideration of the author, his times, and his postumous fame. *Not* just a comic book. Highly recommended, and not just for Kafka or Crumb fans, but anyone who loves writing and comedy.

When I first heard about this book, I bought it only for the Crumb comix. But I began to experiment with really using the recipies. I never thought that I would ever create something in the kitchen that was edible. However, I could no longer resist, I had to get cooking! I agree with the first review of this book, the three joint soup is great. As for the other book, "The Food Stamp Gourmet", it gets two big thumbs up from me as well.

Be sure to try the three joint soup! This book has been in our family for many years some of our favorite recipes are from it. does anyone know where I can find the prequel The Food Stamp Gourmet?

R. Crumb and Charles Bukowski, now Crumb and Kafka. The drawings illuminate the text in a way that Kafka would have loved. I will never see Kafka again, except through Crumb's vision.

If you like Crumb, or if you like Kafka, find this book.

Michael Sidlofsky

Kafka scholar David Mairowitz and underground comics artist Robert Crumb team up to provide a fascinating window into Franz Kafka's brilliantly troubled mind. Mairowitz's text provides historical context and biographical information, including valuable insight into the Jewish folkloric roots of Kafka's fiction. Crumb's characteristically graphic illustrations highlight the horrific and humorous elements within Kafka's work. Together, the author and illustrator provide summaries of K's best-known short stories and novels, encouraging the reader to delve into the originals. The book's only flaw lies in Mairowitz's unfortunately condescending attitude towards Kafka scholars and fans.

Fans of Crumb's biting comics of social commentary and raunchy behavior will find this set of comics continues the chronological series covering his complete work. Here Mode O'Day and Her Pals are the feature, covering his cartoons from 1983-85. A centerfold of fine color images provides lively full-page panels; most of the presentation is in classic black and white.

In this entry in the series, the lid is literally ripped from Crumb's psyche, revealing the seething id beneath. Gone are the playful sex fantasies from his earlier work, replaced by dark fantasies that are at times hostile ('Eggs Ackley'), nihilistic ('Jumpin' Jack Flash') and embittered ('The Confessions Of R. Crumb'). These are comix that would easily alienate his hippy admirers, weaned on the psychedelic whimsy of the East Village Other or Yarrowstalks. It was during this period (1971 - 72) that Crumb revamped many of his characters, immersing them into a society shadowed by Nixon/Vietnam-era pessimissism. Projunior. Whiteman. Mr. Natural. Each character struggles with societal dilemmas, torn between hopelessly trying to correct a rigged system and just not giving a damn. Even sly & savvy Fritz the Cat- Crumb's alter ego- finds himself collapsing under the fickle weight of fame and, in the final panel, dead- an icepick through the brain courtesy of a jealous lover. This is pretty strong meat. And a brilliant time capsule of the social consciousness of the early 70's. Highly recommended.

My favorite aspect of Crumb's work has always been his auto/biographical stuff. This book is a terrific collection of his work with his wife Aline, (a "uniquely" talented artist in her own right, but an even better catalyst for delightful R. Crumb comics riffing and cruel but loving playful comics). Aline is the best thing that ever happened to R. Crumb in his whole sensationally miserable life, and this book is just oozing with their unconditional, accepting, (yet warped), love for each other, whether they'd ever admit it openly or not. You can feel the love, and get a warm fuzzy feeling while reading this book.

It's very biographical, so you learn alot about what these two artists' have been up to during the last 3 decades together.

The obvious jokes and gags aren't really so funny, but it's the good, family feeling that runs throughout this book that makes it one of my favorite Crumb collections.

If you liked Aline and R. in the "Crumb" film, then you will love this book. I did, and do! (c:

If you have ever, i mean ever had a gripe with America, this book is for you, and who hasn't really. R. Crumb comes from so many differnet angels and makes fun of so many different ideologies and people in America, it really covers it all. Of course, he does it all in his unique style of sick humor that you must experience to know. You'll either love it or you'll throw upon first read. Let me warn you that this artist is considered to be by many "racist" "mysogynist" "hateful" "jingoist" "sadistic" "masochistic", etc... but his defense would be that he is an artist and is merely an observer and portrayer of what he sees around him in America. I'd agree that you shouldn't pretend taht things like racism don't exist. In any case some other conflicts he makes fun of and comments on are: corporate greed, military jingoism, mindless political correctness, sixties counter culture, utopianism, stereotypes of the "white man", the "angry black man", the "jewish conspiracy", hippies, losers, corporate scum, and just "normal" people...THis is not a book for children or people with high-blood pressure. He is a dangerous cartoonist and is always pushign the boundaries of everything. In the end though if this book is nothing else it is a laugh...at ourselves and everything else that is America.

This collection of Phoebe Gloeckner's comics is definitely not for the faint of heart, but it's worth a reading. If you haven't read her novel, Diary of a Teenage Girl, I think you will find this book a better introduction to her work. The themes are much the same and the comic art is very well done.
The subject matter is pretty bleak.

I can't say enough about this author/artist. I've just finished reading the book and am almost speechless. For anyone out there still dealing with demons of their own less than perfect childhoods, this book takes on the feel of a close friend in the same situation. The author, in a semi-autobiographical fashion, recounts a childhood of sexual abuse, drug abuse, and general coming-of-age well before it ever should. Full of amazing illustrations (Gloeckner is a lauded medical illustrator as well as excellent cartoonist), this book is sure to please anyone looking for something different, and in my case, cathartic. I don't think I could begin to recommend this book highly enough. I'm just glad that I live in a day and age where this book is not only allowed to be published, but can earn accolades as well (the least of which is from me). Thank you, Phoebe!

A Child's Life is hard to read but even harder to turn your eyes away from. Her child-like drawings combined with adult events and content perfectly express the difficult adolescent limbo between girl and woman.

A simple and comprehensible book about psychedelics; the history, the way they work and how they work. It justly denonciates the lack of understanding and ignorance of federal institutes and the media directed paranoid public.

A often overlooked point of view that the war on drugs culture tends to ignore or neglect is the fact that "even the best theories are history if enough people produce the right number of contradictory findings". So, in my opinion this book does a great service in informing those whose opinions are not biased towards total allegiance to the status quo.
I have to laugh when i see headlines in the news about how the government is willing to ignore it's own findings on the medicinal uses of marijuana due to the ideological monetary inconvenience that information imposes on the financial structure of certain government agencies...even more so given that the money could be better spent on policing real issues such as terrorism, violence...etc,etc.
The desire to alter conciousness is as old as humans themselves and this book illustrates that clearly and precise. There is even an altered states graphic form for the prospective experimenter to fill out.
Overall the nice comic illustrations provide the needed comic relief to get through some light scientific reading...although very accurate it's too light for any serious scientific or chemistry buffs. But for the average user(reader) it's good to know all that is included before you take any risks.
The section in the back of the book filled with URL's is also a great place to further your understanding of all the issues and information regarding LSD or any other illegal substance. A good fast read and I highly recommend this book.

Looking for a little reality in the nonsense-clogged canon of drug texts? Yes? Then this is the book for you. The author has meticulously separated the wheat from the chaff, dispensing with the usual shock propaganda and instead using real science (imagine that!) to explain, in just the right amount of detail, how hallucinogens work. This is a remarkably honest and even-handed text that assembles the results of the most up-to-date research into a fascinating and relevant subject. Well-illustrated, factual and entertaining, I'd recommend this book to anyone with curious teenagers. In short, "Trips" is a ray of light in an otherwise benighted field of inquiry, and Ms. Pellerin should be applauded for this courageous and intelligent work.

I happen to live very near where this book is set and I enjoyed going out to these places and envisioning Hayduke, Doc, Abbzug, and Seldom Seen traipsing through the boulders and the scrub brush, tearing up bulldozers. Abbey brings the reader into the story well and keeps you there with rowdy chases and funny anecdotes from the slightly insane Hayduke.

More than that, he begins to make you care for his cause. Having seen the devastation in the desert by the Highway dept. and others, I can understand where the motive for the book comes from. Abbey speaks out the only way he knows how, through irreverence, humor, and a whole lot of craziness.

The writing style, while distinctly Abbey, put me off a bit. He starts off with a bang but it takes 100 pages before you really get into it again. His writing style is a little difficult to get through at times but the result is well worth it.

The book is a joy to read and fun. I recommend it to anyone who can step outside of their common sense for a while and just enjoy a good story with a worthwhile moral.

This is definitely a different book. For a fifteen year old like me, it makes damn sure that we realize that the crap the media fills the world with aint true at all.

I read Desert Solitaire over the summer, and enjoyed it thourougly, leading me to check out MWG from teh school library.

Too many people try to peg Abbey as a naturalist. He's not. He says so in the forward to "Journey Home" (which I started last night). They then try to peg him as a "social terrorist," though I don't see what their reasoning is behind that. This book proves that though he was motivated to do so, he also had the common decency to not blow up bridges or other such nonsense. He stopped at burning billboards.

Really, the greatest purpose of this book seems to be that it reminds people that there are some of us left-wingers out here. If that's the most it does, I think that Abbey would still be satisfied.

Austin

This is the first fiction by Abbey that I've read. That it almost reads like a true story largely stems from the keen sense and accurate knowledge of Colorado Plateau geography that Abbey had. His description of the gnarled and surreal landscape---and the interplay of light, sky, and rock---especially of the Canyonlands area of Utah, is so vivid that it harks back to his compulsively readable nonfiction work in "Abbey's Road", "Down the River", "One Life at a Time, Please", and the like. Readers who fancy this setting will benefit from the author's expert familiarity with the Southwest.

I couldn't help but notice that there is a little (or maybe much) of Abbey in every male character of the book: Doc Sarvis' intellectual ruminations and academic bent, Seldom Smith's knowledge of almost every nook and cranny of the canyonlands and the Four Corners area, and George Hayduke's unfettered and no-holds-barred love for the desert and penchant for irreverence, the ultimate desert rat and indestructible desert Rambo. Bonnie Abzzug personifies people, myself included, who love the desert yet do not seem to be sure exactly what to do to stop its corruption, exploitation, and destruction.

A lot of non-PC thoughts, ideas, and convictions nothwithstanding, the book leaves me wondering how much more of the desert can be paved, accessed, bridged, and defaced before we realize it's too late. The characters represent the extreme end of those who feel that "enough is enough".