Buy new:
$19.89
FREE delivery: Wednesday, April 24 on orders over $35.00 shipped by Amazon.
Ships from: Amazon.com
Sold by: Amazon.com
List Price: $35.00 Details

The List Price is the suggested retail price of a new product as provided by a manufacturer, supplier, or seller. Except for books, Amazon will display a List Price if the product was purchased by customers on Amazon or offered by other retailers at or above the List Price in at least the past 90 days. List prices may not necessarily reflect the product's prevailing market price.
Learn more
Save: $15.11 (43%)
Get Fast, Free Shipping with Amazon Prime FREE Returns
FREE delivery Wednesday, April 24 on orders shipped by Amazon over $35
Or fastest delivery Tuesday, April 23. Order within 12 hrs 10 mins
In Stock
$$19.89 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details
Price
Subtotal
$$19.89
Subtotal
Initial payment breakdown
Shipping cost, delivery date, and order total (including tax) shown at checkout.
Ships from
Amazon.com
Ships from
Amazon.com
Sold by
Amazon.com
Sold by
Amazon.com
Returns
Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt
Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt
This item can be returned in its original condition for a full refund or replacement within 30 days of receipt.
Returns
Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt
This item can be returned in its original condition for a full refund or replacement within 30 days of receipt.
Payment
Secure transaction
Your transaction is secure
We work hard to protect your security and privacy. Our payment security system encrypts your information during transmission. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. Learn more
Payment
Secure transaction
We work hard to protect your security and privacy. Our payment security system encrypts your information during transmission. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. Learn more
Get Fast, Free Shipping with Amazon Prime
FREE delivery Wednesday, April 24 on orders shipped by Amazon over $35
Or fastest delivery Tuesday, April 23. Order within 5 hrs 25 mins
Used: Good | Details
Sold by RK Fun
Condition: Used: Good
Comment: Former library book with the usual stamps and stickers. Pages are crisp and clean with no markings. Ships direct from Amazon!
Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items.
Other Sellers on Amazon
Added
$12.97
+ $5.33 shipping
Sold by: karisell
Sold by: karisell
(189 ratings)
100% positive over last 12 months
Only 1 left in stock - order soon.
Shipping rates and Return policy
Loading your book clubs
There was a problem loading your book clubs. Please try again.
Not in a club? Learn more
Amazon book clubs early access

Join or create book clubs

Choose books together

Track your books
Bring your club to Amazon Book Clubs, start a new book club and invite your friends to join, or find a club that’s right for you for free.
Kindle app logo image

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.

Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.

Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.

QR code to download the Kindle App

Follow the author

Something went wrong. Please try your request again later.

The Book of Genesis Illustrated by R. Crumb Hardcover – Illustrated, October 19, 2009

4.7 out of 5 stars 827

{"desktop_buybox_group_1":[{"displayPrice":"$19.89","priceAmount":19.89,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"19","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"89","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"7tMRIb%2FyqmAC%2BhO8r%2Fwydz2yyDrfTErR9SZqmblPhQ0q8LiGTdirjxVcXnrjVLjeGDHcHqyHc4lnBLuDMSrwp7Nr2UHTO7lLd5VeAamamiK58fzCd6ULxxpiu9HYQEOS%2BMiFWkx%2F5bI%3D","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"NEW","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":0}, {"displayPrice":"$17.79","priceAmount":17.79,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"17","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"79","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"7tMRIb%2FyqmAC%2BhO8r%2Fwydz2yyDrfTErRGGOcHNAyTAHLP7PJMzYddzMBL3t9rLYH1ACuahdMG3XhYnUlF%2F2Ct3lFffEqTcp9vFYh8Rh%2Fr%2BuItVA7SJi792DzQuPCTJ4mLmIyKjpz6KIvQMx3t%2BuXRY5oF2hZhyzYYjzkTN5rk9AILHGSlWKw%2FA%3D%3D","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"USED","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":1}]}

Purchase options and add-ons

Nominated for three 2010 Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards: From Creation to the death of Joseph, here are all 50 chapters of the Book of Genesis, revealingly illustrated as never before.

Envisioning the first book of the bible like no one before him, R. Crumb, the legendary illustrator, reveals here the story of Genesis in a profoundly honest and deeply moving way. Originally thinking that we would do a take off of Adam and Eve, Crumb became so fascinated by the Bible’s language, “a text so great and so strange that it lends itself readily to graphic depictions,” that he decided instead to do a literal interpretation using the text word for word in a version primarily assembled from the translations of Robert Alter and the King James bible.

Now, readers of every persuasion―Crumb fans, comic book lovers, and believers―can gain astonishing new insights from these harrowing, tragic, and even juicy stories. Crumb’s
Book of Genesis reintroduces us to the bountiful tree lined garden of Adam and Eve, the massive ark of Noah with beasts of every kind, the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah destroyed by brimstone and fire that rained from the heavens, and the Egypt of the Pharaoh, where Joseph’s embalmed body is carried in a coffin, in a scene as elegiac as any in Genesis. Using clues from the text and peeling away the theological and scholarly interpretation that have often obscured the Bible’s most dramatic stories, Crumb fleshes out a parade of Biblical originals: from the serpent in Eden, the humanoid reptile appearing like an alien out of a science fiction movie, to Jacob, a “kind’ve depressed guy who doesn’t strike you as physically courageous,” and his bother, Esau, “a rough and kick ass guy,” to Abraham’s wife Sarah, more fetching than most woman at 90, to God himself, “a standard Charlton Heston-like figure with long white hair and a flowing beard.”

As Crumb writes in his introduction, “the stories of these people, the Hebrews, were something more than just stories. They were the foundation, the source, in writing of religious and political power, handed down by God himself.” Crumb’s
Book of Genesis, the culmination of 5 years of painstaking work, is a tapestry of masterly detail and storytelling which celebrates the astonishing diversity of the one of our greatest artistic geniuses.

Nominated for three 2010 Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards: Best Adaptation from Another Work, Best Graphic Album, Best Writer/Artist.

The Amazon Book Review
The Amazon Book Review
Book recommendations, author interviews, editors' picks, and more. Read it now.

Frequently bought together

$19.89
Get it as soon as Wednesday, Apr 24
In Stock
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
+
$21.88
Get it as soon as Thursday, Apr 25
Only 1 left in stock - order soon.
Sold by Best Buy Sell and ships from Amazon Fulfillment.
+
$15.14
Get it as soon as Thursday, Apr 25
In Stock
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
Total price:
To see our price, add these items to your cart.
Details
Added to Cart
Some of these items ship sooner than the others.
Choose items to buy together.

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.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

"The best place to witness Crumb's genius. Largely stripped of the sociopolitical context that has made his comics so controversial over the years, Genesis’ portraits of ancient men and women struggling to survive shows that his primary interest lies in chronicling the physical and mental experience of being human."
Thrillist.com

"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

"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

"[A] beautifully drawn and relentlessly faithful rendition of the first 50 chapters of the Bible by an apostle of the 1960s and sometimes profane progenitor of underground comics. Crumb has produced what could be the ultimate graphic novel."
David Colton, USA Today

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ W. W. Norton & Company; 1st edition (October 19, 2009)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 228 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0393061027
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0393061024
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.95 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 8.9 x 0.9 x 11.2 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.7 out of 5 stars 827

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
R. Crumb
Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Born in Philadelphia, R. Crumb is the author of numerous comic works and one of the pioneers of underground comics. His books include Kafka, The Complete Crumb Comics (17 volumes), The R. Crumb Sketchbook (10 volumes), R. Crumb Draws the Blues, The Book of Mr. Natural, The Book of Genesis Illustrated by R. Crumb, and many more. He lives in the south of France with his wife, the artist Aline Kominsky-Crumb.

Customer reviews

4.7 out of 5 stars
4.7 out of 5
827 global ratings
Beautifully illustrated...
5 Stars
Beautifully illustrated...
I have never really been into R. Crumb's work, but the novelty of him illustrating the foundational book of the Holy Bible was too much to resist.His style has always been very rough-looking, sometimes grotesque and perhaps offensive to some, but I cannot deny that his depiction of the events in the Book of Genesis are grittily captured in a way that shows a reverence to the original text.Some might find the illustrations too graphic or offensive, but speaking as a Biblical student these drawings don't pull any punches visually. The history of this first book of the Bible ARE graphic and can be offensive; there is some real and raw stuff and I cannot stress enough that I think it's appropriate (and I'm pretty conservative with this type of thing).Crumb, in his Introduction, explains that he illustrated it with respect and as literal as was written.This book is gorgeous and I recommend it to believers in the Bible and lovers of excellent illustration.
Thank you for your feedback
Sorry, there was an error
Sorry we couldn't load the review

Top reviews from the United States

Reviewed in the United States on November 20, 2009
On the cover of the newest edition of the book of Genesis, there is a warning: "Adult supervision recommended for minors." It is an appropriate warning, but it is also as close to a joke as R. Crumb comes in the whole work. _The Book of Genesis Illustrated_ (Norton) is not Zap Comix, it is not Fritz the Cat, it is not "Keep On Truckin'". What it is is a retelling of all the chapters in Genesis, with enormous seriousness. It is not facetious to compare Crumb's illustrations with the work of Bible illustrators like William Blake or Gustave Doré. These drawings are beautiful. Fans of Crumb's work will immediately recognize his style of hatching and stippling, and the meaty, heavy-legged look of his figures. The black-and-white pictures, laid out in comic-book form on 200 large pages, are simply gorgeous, as expressive as paper and ink can ever be.

Crumb has taken around four years to bring out the book. That he might illustrate such faith-laden material struck many as outrageous. In his introduction, he writes, "If my visual, literal interpretation of the Book of Genesis offends or outrages some readers, which seems inevitable considering that the text is revered by many people, all I can say in my defense is that I approached this as a straight illustration job, with no intention to ridicule or make visual jokes." He has been astonishingly successful. There are objections that Crumb as unbeliever should not touch this text, but perhaps what the faithful ought to be objecting to is that Crumb has not exscinded any parts of the book; if a couple "know" each other, that picture is going to get its panel just as surely as will Jacob seeing the ramp of angels going up and down. Those who like their Bibles unillustrated might have a point; it is one thing to verbally describe something distasteful or distressing, but such a thing may be even more so if it is depicted. It is especially upsetting to see men, women, children, and animals trying to save themselves from the Noachian deluge, which, if it happened, was far more severe than any of the extinctions scientists tell us really did happen in past eras. Every illustrated Bible has a picture of the ark, and animals two by two; Crumb's does, too, but his is the only one that also shows a little of the multi-species lethality of the flood. Crumb's drawings can only emphasize the peculiar, vengeful, and primitive tribal behavior of these people, whose environment and social culture might have analogies with our own, but only by the greatest of stretches. Crumb has always been competent at drawing outsiders and cranks, and here does so just because the text demands it; the drawings show the differences from our world more strikingly than mere words do.

Crumb has taken the labor of illustration seriously. He has attempted to show realistic geographic and urban settings of the time, and he has had consultant friends to help him, including one who told him that in his original drawings the clothing looked like bathrobes and the tents looked like something you'd get at your local outdoor camping store. He redrew. The pictures, while obviously in his own style, are realistic and (what is most important in any illustrated text) they emphasize and help us understand the words of the story. It isn't Crumb's fault the story includes sex and violence and brutishly primitive or superstitious behavior. His book is an ambitious and surprising artistic endeavor, and anyone interested in the famous original ought to enjoy this new way to look at it. Including minors.
21 people found this helpful
Report
Reviewed in the United States on January 21, 2023
The famous and sometimes controversial illustrator Robert Crumb, known as R. Crumb, edited and drew this distinctive version of The Book of Genesis. The graphic illustrations are brilliant black-and-white drawings; some of the original drawings for the book were once displayed by the Seattle Art Museum in an exhibit on graphic art by Dürer, Rembrandt, Hogarth, Goya, and Picasso, which should give you a sense of how highly regarded the artwork is. Not to be overlooked at the end of the book is the illustrator’s insightful Commentary, which explains some of the editorial and interpretative decisions Crumb makes, including his use of Savina Teubal’s book “Sarah the Priestess” (which posits a countering matriarchal tradition to the Bible’s patriarchal orientation).

The prospective reader would be wise to heed Crumb’s own admonition, which he includes on the cover: “Adult Supervision Recommended for Minors.” Genesis depicts violent and sexual situations, to include incest (Lot and his daughters). Crumb does not gloss over those aspects, including frankly (but not pornographically) depicting sexual intercourse in his illustrations. By doing so, he brilliantly reveals to the reader aspects of familiar Bible stories that we might otherwise overlook, so well-worn (and often G-rated we’ve made) these stories in the imagination. Most readers of faith will also find that Crumb’s treatment of Genesis is both faithful to the text and sensitive to religious sensibilities.
6 people found this helpful
Report
Reviewed in the United States on September 15, 2011
First, I admit I am not a fan of Crumb's work. It's not that it is bad - on the contrary, his drawings are beautifully executed and technically wonderful. It's just that I do not prefer the "earthy" look of his characters, nor the complexity of detail, which I find busy - compare it to the stark beauty of Terry Moore's  Strangers In Paradise Book 15: Tomorrow Now  and Wendy Pini's black and whites. So I will admit my opinion is just a matter of preference.

So, why did I buy it? For my youngish son. (He might love Crumb's style - who knows?) So far, he has only looked at it a little, and just the sight of kissing would make him turn the page, so I am not worried about any sex in here. We are not talking 
Sapphire (Sapphire (N B M))  or  Empowered Volume 1  sex, ya' know.

He came home one day saying a friend told him Jesus said we should hate our parents, and wasn't that crazy? So, out came the bible, and I read him the verses in question and pointed out that the word translated to "hate" really *does* mean hate. That was a revelation for him! Mind you, all I did was read him just what the bible said.

As a young catholic, I was never encouraged to read much of the bible. I asked the priest why we did not have a bible study and got a blank look. Face it, Issac Asimov said, "Properly read, the Bible is the most potent force for atheism ever conceived." If my son grows up to be any kind of religious, I will still love and support him. However, I do not wanting him to make a choice based on what an authority figure tells him to believe, or choose something without having thoroughly read the pertinent holy literature and some rebuttals. This copy of Genesis is an easy start.

Crumb's Genesis is just the facts...no spin, nothing taken out to make the bible look better or less confusing. If a person has faith, they should be able to read the whole bible without losing it. If one fears reading it, then there is a problem. One issue is that christians feed their youngsters all happy-happy joy-joy bible bits, saying they are too young to understand the evil and nonsense parts yet.

Look at this dross: 
The Beginner's Bible: Timeless Children's Stories (Beginner's Bible, The)  Notice how they skip god drowning all those helpless animals, all the humans and the innocent babies and kids. Would you let your child watch someone drown puppies in a lake? How would you feel about watching that? Seriously, Noah and his family are smiling about all this? I guess watching god drown thousands of beings has no effect. If you're not going to tell the story right, don't put it in a kids' book. People grow up so deluded about just this story, never giving it any more thought past the "sweet" images in their childrens' book, that they will *even decorate their own infants rooms with these cute pictures of mass murder.*

I call B.S. because most of them are never introduced to those stories later "when they're old enough." I do run into people on line who studied some of this in church as teens, but there are not many. The catholic church, the largest and most influential christian church in the world, surely doesn't encourage one to read more than the approved weekly readings. I am an atheist, and NONE of my christian friends know the bible like I do. If I mention an illogical bit or a dodgy story, I get a chorus of, "THAT'S in there?" and "How did you learn that?!"

So here it is - an unvarnished, basic telling of Genesis in well-done comics form. Buy it for your older kid or yourself. Buy it if you dare.
26 people found this helpful
Report

Top reviews from other countries

Translate all reviews to English
jorge brandon salazar marin
5.0 out of 5 stars Obra maestra
Reviewed in Mexico on February 12, 2022
The media could not be loaded.
 Increíble calidad de impresión, se puede apreciar perfectamente el trabajo de Crumb. Sin duda vale la pena.
Schultheiss
5.0 out of 5 stars Crumb at his best
Reviewed in Germany on April 13, 2024
So kann ein katholischer Comic aussehen; Respekt
Customer 7
1.0 out of 5 stars Noir et blanc / Pas en couleur
Reviewed in France on October 5, 2023
Le livre était annoncé en couleur.
Seule la couverture est en couleur.
Tous les dessins sont en noir et blanc.
Décevant.
Fabio
5.0 out of 5 stars Incrível
Reviewed in Brazil on April 10, 2021
Sensacional.produto de ótima qualidade
Jose
5.0 out of 5 stars Genialidad de un genio
Reviewed in Spain on January 31, 2018
Crumb es un genio, a pesar de sus neuras y de los rollizos muslos que le atacan en sueños cada noche.

Es curioso ver a Crumb dibujando sobre estos temas. Le llevó un rato largo dibujarlo, merece la pena.

Me lo compré en inglés porque era obscenamente más caro en castellano, el trabajo de traducción ya lo teníais hecho hace muchos años, no justifica el sobreprecio.