The R. Crumb Coffee Table Art Book by Robert Crumb (1998, Paperback)

Actually, I WOULD give the rating of 4.7 if I could rather than a 5, but that is just because I really, really don't like the picture on the front cover. True, Crumb frequently draws disturbing images, but I don't really want to see something quite so disturbing on the cover. Maybe other people do. If it was (to me) a sexy picture I would love it, but I don't really go for that kind of sex-confused stuff, and it is NOT a good representation of what you will see within the book. If it was then I could not argue with that particular drawing being on the cover. But who knows, maybe R. Crumb has been holding out on us and he secretly likes to dress in ballerina outfits and twirl about? You never know!

I first became familiar with R. Crumbs art work AND WRITING during his '60s heydays with Zap and other "sixties underground" style comics. He and Gilbert Shelton (of The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers fame) really put comic art as a vessel for social commentary, humor and art on the map. Neither of them are as rich or as famous as they deserve to be, but I believe this is MUCH because neither of them have been willing to "sell out" to commerical interests in the interest of personal gain. They love their art and freedom of expression and they have values that transcend the oh-so-sadly-American brand of materialism and just plain being out for yourself and not caring about others or about the environment or about what makes true art.

R. Crumb is one of my biggest heros of the 20th-21st centuries. Like me, he played around with the dope and drink and like me decided it's a really good idea to go being darned stone cold sober. Like me he gets really radical, and like me he reserves the right to change his mind about things, and does.

What you will get from this wonderful collection of Crumb cartoons is art work to make the eyes dance with joy, words of wit and humor, women with big legs and bottoms glorified as sex objects and a little bit of social commentary and sheer subconsious-driven lunacy that makes no sense and all -- and doesn't have to.

If you haven't heard of Crumb, get with the program. Crumb ROCKS...!