The Book of Genesis Illustrated by R. Crumb (Hardcover)

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Far removed from the satirical reimagining some might expect from the father of underground comix, Crumb's long-awaited take on the first book of the Bible presents the artist's own sensitive, visually intense reflections. Where most visual adaptations edit down their prose sources, Crumb has, strikingly, included every word of the Book of Genesis within his first major book-length work. His humanistic visual response to this religious text imbues even briefly mentioned biblical characters with unique faces and attitudes, and his renderings of the book's more storied personalities draw out momentous emotions inspired by the book's inherent drama. Throughout, Genesis is a virtual portfolio of Crumb's career-long effort to instill fluid cartoon drawing with carefully rendered lifelike detail. Some might miss Crumb's full stylistic and tonal range, but the source's narrative sweep includes moments of sex and scandal that recall the artist's more notorious comics. Indeed, this monumental visual adaptation's basic strategy may subvert simply by demanding a reconsideration of its source, one that continues to motivate the complex cultural struggles that have, for decades, preoccupied this master cartoonist's landmark work. (Oct.)
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Review

From the Creation to the death of Joseph, here is the Book of Genesis, revealingly illustrated as never before. This eagerly awaited graphic work retells the first book of the Bible in a profoundly honest way....The result, four years in the making, is a tapestry of extraordinary detail, the finest work of Crumb’s legendary career. (Graphic Novel Reporter "Graphic Novel Picks for Fall 2009" )

It’s a cartoonist’s equivalent of the Sistine Chapel. It’s awesome. Crumb has done a real artist’s turn here—he’s challenged himself and defied all expectation. ... I’ve read Genesis before. But never have I found it so compelling. By placing it squarely in the Middle East—and populating it with distinctively Semitic-looking people—Crumb makes it come alive brilliantly. (Susan Jane Gilman - Morning Edition, NPR )

Starred Review. Crumb’s vivid visual characterizations of the myriad characters, pious and wicked, make the most striking impression. His distinctive, highly rendered drawing style imparts a physicality that few other illustrated versions of this often retold chronicle have possessed. The centenarian elders show every one of their years, and the women, from Eve to Rachel, are as solidly sensual as any others Crumb has so famously drawn. (Booklist )

To say this book is a remarkable volume or even a landmark volume in comic art is somewhat of an understatement.... stands on its own as one of this century’s most ambitious artistic adaptations of the West’s oldest continuously told story. (Paul Buhle - The Jewish Daily Forward )

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company; 1 edition (October 19, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393061027
• ISBN-13: 978-0393061024
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 8.8 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (98 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #451 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

163 of 168 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars For Those Who Love Crumb, October 1, 2009

By	C. Riness (Wisconsin, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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Sorry to disagree with the previous review, but I think it needs to be said...if you love Crumb's art, you will love this book. I am stunned at the sheer volume of work it took to illustrate the thing. Awestruck, really. I've always loved Crumb's art and work, at first (when I was young) because he seemed so twisted and funny, but later, because I realized what a truly fine artist he is. I say, never mind the "is it passionate" crap.

In March of '09, some online articles were calling this upcoming work "subversive"... Not so. There's no intent to be comical here...or to insult Judeo-Christian theology. It seems, in every sense, to be a legitimate illustration of the Book of Genesis. And, I found it beautiful, because Crumb's attention to visual detail is beautiful.

Crumb relies on two sources for the translation including the King James version, and more so, Robert Alter's "The Five Books Of Moses". So, sure, there may be some disagreement in translation for individuals who are version specific. I would suggest we look past that and just enjoy the book for its merits and Crumb's talent.

One should be aware that a few panels may be considered "steamy" for younger children. Some nudity appears and, for instance, when in Chapter 19 it is written that Lot's daughters gave their father wine to drink and then lay with him, Crumb illustrates it. It is my belief, however, that Crumb's intent here is simply illustration, not subversion.

At any rate, it is an amazing work of art, not to mention a book of many important stories.

45 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A cartoonist's Sistene Chapel, October 19, 2009

By	Steve Reina (Troy Michigan) - See all my reviews

When R. Crumb set out to create an illustrated Genesis, he planned two years for the project.

Five years later we have what amounts to a cartoonist's answer to the Sistene Chapel, audicious and bold I guess in the same way that great art always seems to be audacious and bold.

For those who would suggest that the work satirzes its material or attempts to demean the underlying Biblical text I would suggest they re-read their Genesis. Where the Bible says Judah had relations with his daughter Tamar thinking her a cultic prostitute, the illustrations show Judah having relations with Tamar thinking her a cultic prostitute. Where the Bible says Lot while drunk had relations with each of his daughters in a cave, the illustrations show Lot while drunk having relations with each of his daughters in cave.

In this way, and with all due respect, those offended by Crumb illustrations should probably in fact be offended by the text as well.

If this material was noteworthy only for its prurient value, it would be easy to dismiss but the work is filled with nuance and mood reflecting the nuance and mood of the underlying text. For example, the anxious confabulation of Adam and Eve when confronted by God for eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil is readily revealed in their faces (including a glance of reproof by Eve at having been blamed by Adam). Later we see Abraham in sorrow as he contemplates the problems of his people, dimly depicted as the hallow faced of the Holocaust we have become so familiar with.

In all this work ably succeeds in doing what it set out to do: to provide an illustrated version of Genesis. That it was produced by an atheist does not rob it of any of its artistic potential nor does it prevent us from appreciating it on whatever level we may choose to do so.

42 of 45 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Perfectly Serious, October 9, 2009

By	Amos Lassen (Little Rock, Arkansas) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)

Crumb, R. "The Book of Genesis Illustrated", Norton, 2009.

Perfectly Serious


Amos Lassen

What an idea for a graphic novel--the book of Genesis. R. Crumb's book is perfectly serious and he has left nothing out. There is commentary as well. The characters come in all ages and all sizes and what they have in common is that they are all in the book of Genesis. All of the women are beautiful and young and the men are noble and Crumb gives us his interpretation of God as well--big beard and a bad temper.
Crumb lets us know how committed he is to the text and explains how Genesis needs constant reinterpretation. The God we know has become for many the one of Charlton Heston as Moses.
Crumb's Biblical characters have no internal lives and much is interpreted visually. Crumb's innovation here is his depiction of the deity which is an extension of the author's imagination. His Joseph is wonderful as we see a man subjugating Egypt and tired of his own powers. This is an interesting and rewarding look at the First of the Five Books of Moses and I only hope that Crumb does the other four as well.