15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The un-guru, April 3, 2008
This review is from: Book of Mr. Natural (Paperback)
If--perish the thought!--all of R. Crumb's work except his Mr Natural comix were lost to humankind, we'd still have what I take to be his most important legacy. An entire college course could be taught--probably HAS been taught somewhere--with the Mr Natural comix as texts.
Mr Natural is a guru who does exactly what good gurus ought to do: he shakes us up by refusing to act like we think holy people should act. He has a roving eye for the ladies, he cusses, at times he appears heartless or indifferent, and the advice he offers--when he does offer it, which isn't all that often--frequently comes across as whacky. He's so irreverent that it's easy to see him as irrelevant. But nothing could be further from the truth, because Mr Natural is like one of those Taoist sages who, dressed in rags and laughing uproariously, serve as living reminders for the rest of us not to take ourselves, our lifestyles, and our values so seriously. Self-honesty is what Mr Natural wants from us.
As Flakey Foont discovers over and over in the Mr Natural comix, though, self-honesty is hard to come by, because self-deception feels so damn good, especially to us "booshwah" types. We deceive ourselves all the time about our seething sexual desires ("Mr Natural stops Talking," "The Girlfriend," and the marvelous Devil Girl stories). We deceive ourselves about our piety, pretending that what we want to believe is what we should believe ("Mr Natural Goes to a Meeting of the Minds," "Om Sweet Om," and "Sittin' Around the Kitchen Table"). We deceive ourselves about work and ambition ("It's a workaday World") and, in one of the best two stories in this volume, we deceive ourselves when we think about God ("Mr Natural Meets 'The Kid'").* In all these stories, sacred cow after sacred cow runs off into the sunset, mooing gaily.
And as if all that's not good enough, R. Crumb gives us the definitive biography of Mr Natural--complete with early and rare photos--in this volume (pp. 42-44). This story alone is worth the price of the entire book.
Truly, a great collection!
_________
* The other best story here is "Mr Natural's 719th Meditation."
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16 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Mr. Natural - Horny Guru or Chairman Mao, July 19, 1998
By A Customer
This review is from: Book of Mr. Natural (Paperback)
It's said that chairman Mao was going to put Mr. Natural on the cover of his little red book along with his quotations but Nixon nixed the deal saying it would reveal too many secrets about America.
Robert Crumb has an uncanny way of telling the absolute truth. Mr. Natural is as natural as we may all be if it were not for the hang-ups that our parents and teachers impose upon us as children. He tells the truth as it really is - and how is that you say? Well one of the most important truths is not to forget whatever it was you were supposed to remember... and if you do... well just make it up!
After all... twas ever thus!
Excellent collection of Mr Natural's adventures thru life - a must have for anyone who used to say cool but will probably go over the head of anyone who says kewl.
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4.0 out of 5 stars
Almost 30 years of Naturalism, January 15, 2012
This collection doesn't present the entire career of Mr. Natural - there's just too much of it - but samples this famous character's career from the late 1960s to mid-1990s. Over that time, we see Mr. Natural develop from a cheerfully mystic hedonist into the mysogynist cynic of his later years. At the same time his character plummets, his artwork rises from the simple outlines of early years to the stipples and shading of Crumb's more mature work.
If you remember Zap comics, you'll be ready for the ever-horny urban guru. If not, brace yourself for some backlash against the 1970s' militant feminism and racial stereotypes that are unenlightened (to say the least) by today's standards. Like it or not, this shows an important ancestor of today's indy comics, but without the obsessive amassing of minutiae in other recent Crumb collections.
-- wiredweird
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