Customer Reviews

Studs Terkel's Working: A Graphic Adaptation

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A graphic adaptation of Studs Terkel's Working seems like such an obvious idea once someone else has put it on the market. It is the kind of project that has to make every up-and-coming comics writer wonder, "Why didn't I think of that?" But underground comics veteran Harvey Pekar (American Splendor) and editor Paul Buhle did think of that, and the result is a brilliant reimagining of Terkel's career-defining work.

Terkel's Working, with the apt subtitle People Talk About What They Do All Day and How They Feel About What They Do, was originally published in 1974. In it, the oral historian provided a wealth of interviews with people from all walks of life--from businessmen to athletes to a prostitute--digging into what makes the professions significant for each of them. The in-depth interviews offer insight into everything from the commonplace details of the jobs to existential ponderings.

Pekar translates these interviews to the graphic medium with help from a wealth of talented artists, while he adapts much of the writing himself. The formatting of the book remains the same. The graphic adaptation is divided into nine-subsections, or categories, with a few interviews comprising each. Every artist converts one or two interviews into several pages of comics, using verbatim interview text as dialogue to let the characters tell their stories.

The art helps the reader visualize these people and the work they do. Readers will likely gravitate to certain styles more than others, as they are all strikingly unique in this collection. For this reader, Peter Gullerud's work on "Jack Spiegel, Organizer" is the highlight of the bunch. More so than any other artist in the collection, Gullerud envisions pages rather than panels when putting together his art. Panels connect in a very special way, giving structure to the work matching the idea of the organizer, who brings together the proverbial cogs to form a stronger unit to stand up for workers rights.

Every artist has a different approach, and it keeps things interesting throughout. It also plays into the idea of Terkel's work. Common themes are evident throughout, but every person and every job is unique. Each person has a different story to tell, important in its own way, and the artists capture these distinctive characters.

Terkel's work has an important place in oral history literature--it is still relevant today--and Pekar's adaptation takes that seminal work and molds it into something both entirely fresh and true to the source material every step of the way. It offers old readers a new way to experience Working and makes it accessible to an entirely new audience. It is everything an adaptation should be.

-- William Jones

The eminent beatnik Maynard G. Krebs described "work" as the ultimate four-letter word. As you of the younger generation scramble to go on Wikipedia to learn who Maynard G. Krebs was, I will digress to the review on hand.
Harvey Pekar's graphic adaptation of Studs Terkel's "Working" is an ingenious use of the graphic media. For those of you who don't know Studs Terkel, once you've gone into the inner workings of this book you will see the genius of Terkel's journalism. This book was first published in 1972 and it dealt with the working people of America. Terkel was always known as a writer of the people and this work is truly representative of his oeuvre of work. To me Terkel as a writer of the Midwestern ilk, much like Mike Royko, gives us a dose of reality in telling their wonderful stories.
What Pekar has done is to put these stories of the common life working people into graphic form. Each story is done by a different artist¸ so each story has a different texture and a different feel that best represents the job. The purpose of each story is to describe the life and problems of each person describing their slice of the American workplace.
The book is divided in categories as determined by Terkel such as Footwork, In the Spotlight, and Second Chance etc. We have angry people, determined workers, union people, scared people and people who just tolerate their working fates. As you read through each scenario, you will find some graphic depictions with much too much narrative and confusing graphics which are hard to follow. In other stories the graphics set the mood and there's minimal narrative which accurately depicts their job description. Pekar's aim is to create the mood of each and every worker's story. In the majority of stories Pekar's team of artists and writers hit the mark, however there are a few stories in which I end up scratching my head.
Terkel's original book and theme is flawless. Pekar's graphic depiction is good and worth the read, however it is not flawless. This work is good but not great. 4 Stars for a very creative effort.

I have really enjoyed the graphic adaptation of Studs Terkel's book. I have the original book but, found this to be a fun, unique presentation of the author's great work. Glad that I purchased it.

I picked this up because I'm a big fan of Harvey Pekar's American Splendor and I normally like nonfiction graphic novels. It's not bad, but I feel that it is outdated. It gives a glimpse into the lives of people who work different jobs. Unfortunately, I think the National Geographic channel has spoiled me. I have seen much more engaging documentaries and TV shows about all kinds of different lifestyles. I think video is just a better medium for this, because you get to see and hear the actual people as they tell you about their lives, whereas here, of course, it's a drawing of the people. Also, I specifically have to call out Sharon Rudahl's drawing style, because she illustrates many of the segments in this book. Her style is way too busy! There is so much shading and detail crammed together with hardly any delineation between panels. It is very confusing to look at.