I've only seen the movie, but these vignettes and their misanthropy sound a little Bukowski-esque to me. Very curious how he became well known enough for an entire movie about him to get made.
It really was a case of time plus perseverance. Over the years Pekar's style of writing changed very little. His Letterman appearances supposedly landed him offers of hosting his own talk show which he refused, and there were a stage production in the 80s adapted from his comics. Apparently there were other movie offers before the Giomatti film that for one reason or another fell through.
Nice piece. I thought he was more successful than this but I suppose given the subject matter that was a misjudgment on my part. I enjoyed in small doses. Too much I found repetitive.
"Like Robert Crumb, whose illustrations are my favorite of all the writer’s collaborations, Pekar came of age during the spring-well of youth culture that was the late 1960s."
He didn't come of age then, he was 30 by then, which was considered old by the youth culture. He came of age in the 50s and was a product of pre-rock bohemia.
"But don’t get it twisted: Pekar was New Left and campaigned in his fiction for unions, labor reform, and social justice."
He was Old Left - labor left. He was not New Left at all, and his writing on race and gender reflects it.
I really loved this, Daniel. Great work.
I've only seen the movie, but these vignettes and their misanthropy sound a little Bukowski-esque to me. Very curious how he became well known enough for an entire movie about him to get made.
It really was a case of time plus perseverance. Over the years Pekar's style of writing changed very little. His Letterman appearances supposedly landed him offers of hosting his own talk show which he refused, and there were a stage production in the 80s adapted from his comics. Apparently there were other movie offers before the Giomatti film that for one reason or another fell through.
His own talk show?? Oh man... Regardless I guess it's a good lesson for substackers! Anyways, great article.
Nice piece. I thought he was more successful than this but I suppose given the subject matter that was a misjudgment on my part. I enjoyed in small doses. Too much I found repetitive.
Excellent piece. There was a period in the 80s when underground music fanzines really took up the baton for Pekar, such as this one in 1989: https://fanzinehemorrhage.com/2025/04/05/damp-4/
Great sketch of a guy I feel I should have heard of, but hadn't!
I really enjoyed Pekar's comics back in the day. Nice piece!
I remember Pekar; it's been years, and I remember the 2003 Giamatti film. He was the original contraryian.
He sounds like a recurring Chapo guest who would end up developing a 5-figure monthly Patreon. Lived in the wrong era.
"Like Robert Crumb, whose illustrations are my favorite of all the writer’s collaborations, Pekar came of age during the spring-well of youth culture that was the late 1960s."
He didn't come of age then, he was 30 by then, which was considered old by the youth culture. He came of age in the 50s and was a product of pre-rock bohemia.
"But don’t get it twisted: Pekar was New Left and campaigned in his fiction for unions, labor reform, and social justice."
He was Old Left - labor left. He was not New Left at all, and his writing on race and gender reflects it.
“The film boosted sales of his books enough to keep his head above water (though he never moved out of Cleveland)”
The whole city of Cleveland catching strays! What’s so bad about Cleveland??
Seriously loved reading this, I gotta get my anthology of his stuff out and reread it, the Crumb stuff in particular is great