Harvey Pekar’s mother was a Zionist by way of politics. His father was a Zionist by way of faith. Whether Harvey was going to daily Hebrew classes or attending Zionist picnics, he grew up a staunch supporter of the Jewish state. But soon he found himself questioning the very beliefs and ideals of his parents.
In Not the Israel My Parents Promised Me, the final graphic memoir from the man who defined the genre, Pekar explores what it means to be Jewish and what Israel means to the Jews. Over the course of a single day in his hometown of Cleveland, Ohio, Pekar and the illustrator JT Waldman wrestle with the mythologies and realities surrounding the Jewish homeland. Pekar interweaves his increasing disillusionment with the modern state of Israel with a comprehensive history of the Jewish people from biblical times to the present, and the result is a personal and historical odyssey of uncommon power. Plainspoken and empathetic, Pekar had no patience for injustice and prejudice in any form, and though he comes to understand the roots of his parents’ unquestioning love for Israel, he arrives at the firm belief that all peoples should be held to the same universal standards of decency, fairness, and democracy.
With an epilogue written by Joyce Brabner, Not the Israel My Parents Promised Me is an essential book for fans of Harvey Pekar and anyone interested in the past and future of the Jewish state. It is bound to create important discussions and debates for years to come.
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Review
“[Pekar’s] message here is important—that a good Jew asks tough questions, that a history of oppression requires us to be more conscious of the oppressed.”
—David L. Ulin, Los Angeles Times
“This posthumous publication reflects the seminal graphic memoirist at his edgy best.”
—Kirkus (starred review)
“[T]his posthumous work by Pekar functions as a multipronged exploration of religious, political, and personal histories and is all the richer for it . . . A sweet and simple epilogue by Pekar’s widow, Joyce Brabner, provides the perfect capstone.”
—Publishers Weekly
“This is not only Pekar’s greatest work, but probably the most powerful use of his talent for plainly speaking truth to power and ignorance. JT Waldman masterfully captures the wry innocence of Harvey’s interrogation while still celebrating the subtle contours of modern American Jewishness.”
—Douglas Rushkoff, author of Life Inc. and Program or Be Programmed
“A fascinating history of the so-called Promised Land—as seen through the eyes of an estranged Jew from Cleveland. Brimming with classic Pekar asides and details, the book sheds light on a subject often obscured by heat. JT Waldman’s evocative artwork combines down-to-earth American Splendor–style illustrations with motifs inspired by everything from mythology and Islamic art to illuminated manuscripts and Chagall. I never got to say goodbye to Harvey, but reading this book was like having a final conversation with him.”
—Josh Neufeld, American Splendor artist, and author and artist of A.D.: New Orleans After the Deluge
“Pekar peppers accounts of perpetual persecution with poignant autobiographical anecdotes in this concise, compelling, and sure-to-be controversial graphic history of the Jewish people and the state of Israel. JT Waldman’s art, juxtaposing realism with ancient styles, rocking exquisite mosaics and elaborate medieval and Middle Eastern design flourishes, is nothing less than a majestic tour de Schwartz.”
—Jeff Newelt, Heeb Magazine comics editor, and editor of Harvey Pekar’s Cleveland
“Not the Israel My Parents Promised Me is Harvey Pekar’s final exploration of his conflict over the history of Israel, as illuminated by JT Waldman’s protean art. This is their Jewish Book of Hours.”
—Dean Haspiel, artist of The Quitter and Cuba: My Revolution
“One part history lesson, one part autobiography, and all Harvey Pekar, Not the Israel My Parents Promised Me is an insightful look at one of the burning topics of our time. With Pekar’s scholarship and humor and JT Waldman’s stylistically varied art, this graphic book is visually entertaining and highly informative.”
—Peter Kuper, artist of The Metamorphosis
About the Author
Harvey Pekar is best known for his graphic autobiography, American Splendor, which was based on his long-running comic-book series and was adapted into a film of the same name. He died in 2010.
JT Waldman is an artist, interactive designer, and comic-book creator. He is the author and illustrator of the graphic novel Megillat Esther. He lives in Philadelphia.
Joyce Brabner is an award-winning author of graphic books. She frequently collaborated with her late husband, Harvey Pekar, on his American Splendor series. She lives in Cleveland.
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Pekar's views about Jewish nationalism and even the existence of God differed greatly from his parents. Some readers are sure to be outraged about his conclusions - as can be the case with books focused on religion.
Illustrator JT Waldman and Pekar are shown discussing Jewish history as they roam through Cleveland, Ohio. They touch on a huge variety of topics ( especially for such a brief book), including Zionism, Pekar's attempt to emigrate to Israel, Palestinian history and more. In addition to the main material, there is also a fascinating epilogue written by Pekar's wife, Joyce Brabner.
I think it is important to note that Illustrator JT Waldman is not just a minor part of this memoir. He is also listed as a co-author of Not the Israel My Parents Promised Me as well as a significant figure in the narrative. That raises some questions about the complexities of co-authorship when one author dies before a book's publication.
Based on the information I found, this book was a work in progress, not fully completed before Pekar's death in 2010. So it was impossible for me to read it without wondering if he would have been satisfied with Not the Israel My Parents Promised Me in final form. It definitely seems abbreviated, a bit rushed, to me. But perhaps he would have left it that way.
The book is bound to offend some readers - not unique for works by Pekar. But fans will gain added insight into the author's childhood, time spent in Hebrew school, and his evolving views about Judaism and Jewish history. His parents' beliefs, backgrounds, and personalities are also revealed.
Pekar's mother was not nearly as committed to Jewish traditions as his father although she supported Israel and was proud of her Jewish relatives. As depicted in the book, Pekar's father was a more traditonally observant Jew while his mother didn't attend temple regularly, not even during Jewish holidays.
Although Pekar attended Hebrew School he questioned his religion from an early age. He was confused about learning to read Hebrew when he didn't understand how to translate the words. Ultimately, he came to see himself as Jewish but not a nationalist, a point noted by Pekar's wife, Joyce Brabner, in the book's Epilogue (also illustrated as a graphic narrative). This Epilogue, while extremely brief, adds extra perspective about Pekar's complicated relationship with his parents and Judaism.
Because it is an illustrated book, with relatively little text per page, Not the Israel My Parents Promised Me is a quick - and intriguing- read.
And this, his last work, is among Harvey's best, perhaps his most complex and substantial long-form story since "Our Cancer Year." The book is similar to much of his later work in that Harvey combines the evocative sense of quotidian existence that constituted the primary focus of "American Splendor" with an exploration of a "larger" topic. A historical, political, and utterly personal meditation on the past and present state of Israel and the Jewish people is a match made in heaven, so to speak, and Harvey makes the most of it. "Not the Israel My Parents Promised Me" is seriously informative for the 99.9% of us who are not experts on Jewish and Middle East history, and Harvey's personalized interpretation of those histories is simultaneously prickly and utterly, heartbreakingly reasonable.
This is also perhaps the most brilliantly, beautifully illustrated work of Harvey's long career. J.T. Waldman is a witty, thoughtful "on-screen" participant in the narrative, and his artwork is creative, beautifully conceived and executed, and entirely complementary. Ever since the early work with Robert Crumb, Harvey's best writing has been presented most successfully by artists who GET him, and Waldman's contributions here really earn him the co-author credit.
Finally, while it may be true that Harvey died before this book was entirely in the can, I found the main narrative's relative irresolution in keeping both with the complexities of the issues being confronted here and with Harvey's realist aesthetic. The truths uncovered here are both material and poetic. And the narrative coda by Harvey's wife, Joyce Brabner, strikes a perfect tone, joining the themes of this particular work and Harvey's life in an enormously moving way.
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