Krazy: George Herriman, a Life in Black and White
4.5/5
()
Currently unavailable
Currently unavailable
About this ebook
In the tradition of Schulz and Peanuts, an epic and revelatory biography of Krazy Kat creator George Herriman that explores the turbulent time and place from which he emerged—and the deep secret he explored through his art.
The creator of the greatest comic strip in history finally gets his due—in an eye-opening biography that lays bare the truth about his art, his heritage, and his life on America’s color line. A native of nineteenth-century New Orleans, George Herriman came of age as an illustrator, journalist, and cartoonist in the boomtown of Los Angeles and the wild metropolis of New York. Appearing in the biggest newspapers of the early twentieth century—including those owned by William Randolph Hearst—Herriman’s Krazy Kat cartoons quickly propelled him to fame. Although fitfully popular with readers of the period, his work has been widely credited with elevating cartoons from daily amusements to anarchic art.
Herriman used his work to explore the human condition, creating a modernist fantasia that was inspired by the landscapes he discovered in his travels—from chaotic urban life to the Beckett-like desert vistas of the Southwest. Yet underlying his own life—and often emerging from the contours of his very public art—was a very private secret: known as "the Greek" for his swarthy complexion and curly hair, Herriman was actually African American, born to a prominent Creole family that hid its racial identity in the dangerous days of Reconstruction.
Drawing on exhaustive original research into Herriman’s family history, interviews with surviving friends and family, and deep analysis of the artist’s work and surviving written records, Michael Tisserand brings this little-understood figure to vivid life, paying homage to a visionary artist who helped shape modern culture.
Michael Tisserand
Michael Tisserand is the author of The Kingdom of Zydeco, which won the ASCAP-Deems Taylor Award for music writing, and the Hurricane Katrina memoir Sugarcane Academy. He served as editor of Gambit Weekly, New Orleans’ alternative newsweekly. He lives in New Orleans, Louisiana. www.michaeltisserandauthor.com
Read more from Michael Tisserand
Krazy: George Herriman, a Life in Black and White Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Kingdom of Zydeco Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSugarcane Academy: How a New Orleans Teacher and His Storm-Struck Students Created a School to Remember Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to Krazy
Related ebooks
Peter Bagge: Conversations Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSeth: Conversations Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBen Katchor: Conversations Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCanadian Graphic: Picturing Life Narratives Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Comics of R. Crumb: Underground in the Art Museum Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Hunting Accident: A True Story of Crime and Poetry Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Cartoon County: My Father and His Friends in the Golden Age of Make-Believe Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Chris Ware: Conversations Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Ten-Cent Plague: The Great Comic-Book Scare and How It Changed America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Projections: Comics and the History of Twenty-First-Century Storytelling Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHemingway in Comics Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsChester Brown: Conversations Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5R. Crumb: Literature, Autobiography, and the Quest for Self Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The New England Life of Cartoonist Bob Montana: Beyond the Archie Comic Strip Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Once Upon a Time in France Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Comic Shop: The Retail Mavericks Who Gave Us a New Geek Culture Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Palookaville: Seth and the Art of Graphic Autobiography Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Comics & Media: A Special Issue of "Critical Inquiry" Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsIn Love with Art: Françoise Mouly's Adventures in Comics with Art Spiegelman Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dave Sim: Conversations Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Gothic for Girls: Misty and British Comics Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsArtful Breakdowns: The Comics of Art Spiegelman Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWithout Reservations Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Incorrigibles and Innocents: Constructing Childhood and Citizenship in Progressive Era Comics Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPulp Empire: The Secret History of Comic Book Imperialism Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5What's So Funny?: A Cartoonist's Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Learners: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Funnybooks: The Improbable Glories of the Best American Comic Books Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Steve Gerber: Conversations Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Art of Daniel Clowes: Modern Cartoonist Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Artists and Musicians For You
The Woman in Me Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Meaning of Mariah Carey Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A Daily Creativity Journal Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5IT'S ALL IN YOUR HEAD Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Marathon Don't Stop: The Life and Times of Nipsey Hussle Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Leonardo da Vinci Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Gender Madness: One Man's Devastating Struggle with Woke Ideology and His Battle to Protect Children Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Elvis and Me Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Slash Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Yes Please Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Dirt: Confessions of the World's Most Notorious Rock Band Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Will Eisner: Champion of the Graphic Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Longing for Less: Living with Minimalism Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Me: Elton John Official Autobiography Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5More Myself: A Journey Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How to Be a Woman Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Just Kids: An Autobiography Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Tommyland Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Frida Kahlo: An Illustrated Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I Walked the Line: My Life with Johnny Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Gary Larson and The Far Side Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsNot Dead & Not for Sale: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ghost Rider: Travels on the Healing Road Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Collected Poetry of Nikki Giovanni: 1968-1998 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Can I Say: Living Large, Cheating Death, and Drums, Drums, Drums Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ta-Nehisi Coates’ Between The World And Me Summary Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Summary of The War of Art: by Steven Pressfield | Includes Analysis Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/550 Great Love Letters You Have To Read (Golden Deer Classics) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sounds Like Me: My Life (So Far) in Song Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5It's Kind of a Cute Story Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Reviews for Krazy
19 ratings2 reviews
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5fascinating read and a history of a turbulent America
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5When I was a kid (we're talking 1960's here), I remember being introduced to "Krazy Kat" as a series of TV cartoons and thinking that there was something interesting going on here, but I really don't get it. Those thoughts basically lay fallow until this biography came out a few years ago, when it immediately went on the TBR list. My thoughts on having finished this work? As for the book itself, Tisserand is almost too careful of a writer at the start, as he lays out the family history that George Herriman was so careful to keep obscure, as having roots in the Free Black community of New Orleans would certainly have aborted the young man's aspirations to being a commercial artist. Once you get into the meat of the book, dealing with Herriman's career as a cartoonist, Tisserand treats those cartoons as a "text" to try and draw out truths about Herriman, and there's a strong argument to be made that said cartoons were a way for Herriman to vent what he was really feeling.Apart from dealing with Herriman as an artist, Tisserand also explores the ins and outs of his subject's life, with the most interesting being how Herriman struck up a relationship with the Navajo community; outside of the company of his immediate family and peers, they seem to be the people Herriman felt most at home with.