Splendid Duality
I saw Martin Scorsese's Bringing Out the Dead not long ago for the first time. It clarified for me a theme that's run through a number of Scorsese's films: that of duality. Think of Howard Hughes in The Aviator: suave and accomplished on one hand, and nearly crippled by his OCD on the other. Or, more obviously, The Last Temptation of Christ. In Bringing Out the Dead, Frank Pierce is so divided as to be nearly two separate men: one noble and dedicated to helping others; the other, reckless, engaging in self-destructive behavior. The contrast between the two is shocking, and it's not until partway through the film that you realize that this contrast is the point: that the divide between Pierce's two aspects is at the root of the film's conflict.
What does this have to do with Harvey Pekar? A lot.
Last week, I went to the Union Square Barnes & Noble to see Pekar and artist Dean Haspiel speak about their new graphic novel, The Quitter. Like most of you, I was most familiar with Pekar's work through the film American Splendor ; the only work of his that I've read was Unsung Hero, which concerns the experience of a friend of his in the Vietnam War. Pekar and Haspiel had a good chemistry -- Haspiel was charismatic and seemed to know half the crowd (and while I don't know the man, I did learn of the reading through his posting on The Engine), while Pekar seemed less comfortable in front of the crowd, while still dispensing at times brutally honest pieces of information. The Quitter is not the first time the two had collaborated, but both gave the impression that their collaboration had reached a new height with this work.
So, you might ask: how is it?
It's good. The Quitter is the story of Pekar's early years -- from birth to roughly his mid-to-late twenties, with a postscript bringing everything together. It's about his insecurities, his abilities, and the evolution of his character -- and throughout it, duality plays a huge role. You see the young Pekar adopt an all-or-nothing attitude towards academics, abandoning anything that causes him to feel insecure -- but at the same time, we also see him finding certain things to take refuge in that will sustain him for years to come. Haspiel's page design contrasts Pekar -- both the confident and insecure versions in his younger years, but also the younger man with Pekar today. Its thematic design is subtle, but it works -- and, a day or so after finishing it, its emotional core is still resonating with me.
What does this have to do with Harvey Pekar? A lot.
Last week, I went to the Union Square Barnes & Noble to see Pekar and artist Dean Haspiel speak about their new graphic novel, The Quitter. Like most of you, I was most familiar with Pekar's work through the film American Splendor ; the only work of his that I've read was Unsung Hero, which concerns the experience of a friend of his in the Vietnam War. Pekar and Haspiel had a good chemistry -- Haspiel was charismatic and seemed to know half the crowd (and while I don't know the man, I did learn of the reading through his posting on The Engine), while Pekar seemed less comfortable in front of the crowd, while still dispensing at times brutally honest pieces of information. The Quitter is not the first time the two had collaborated, but both gave the impression that their collaboration had reached a new height with this work.
So, you might ask: how is it?
It's good. The Quitter is the story of Pekar's early years -- from birth to roughly his mid-to-late twenties, with a postscript bringing everything together. It's about his insecurities, his abilities, and the evolution of his character -- and throughout it, duality plays a huge role. You see the young Pekar adopt an all-or-nothing attitude towards academics, abandoning anything that causes him to feel insecure -- but at the same time, we also see him finding certain things to take refuge in that will sustain him for years to come. Haspiel's page design contrasts Pekar -- both the confident and insecure versions in his younger years, but also the younger man with Pekar today. Its thematic design is subtle, but it works -- and, a day or so after finishing it, its emotional core is still resonating with me.
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