TICKETS IN
ADVANCE
SUGGESTED
TICKETS AVAILABLE AT
CAVENDER’S BOOT CITY,
TRADITIONS BOOKSTORE, AND
ONLINEWWW.CROSSCANADIANRAGWEED.COM
HURRICANE HARRY’S
Meet
The
Battalion
Wednesday, Jan. 28
2-4 RM.
Forsyth Galleries, MSC
Meet the writers, photographers, artists and
editors who produce your campus newspaper.
The Battalion
4A
Monday, January 26, 2004
American Splendor:
The Life and Times of Harvey Pekar
By Harvey Pekar
Ballantine Books
the thoughts that clouded his mind. For readers, this is an
look into life, pure and simple. Pekar never found the massive
other writers found and his work hits kept its humble inti
throughout its run.
One story details Pekar s experience with voice loss. His pari
Honesty is not easy to come by in today’s world. Through editing
processes and clever wordplay, many authors can manipulate their work
to create a larger-than-life image of who they are as people, in the
process revealing themselves even further. It is a rare treat to come across
a work of literature that is a pure, unfiltered reflection of a human soul.
It’s lucky for readers that there exists a near-perfect expression of Harvey
Pekar’s life in “American Splendor” which is a touching mosaic of
moments that compose Pekar’s life as told by Pekar himself. From the
mundane to the cosmic, these moments of life captured in print are a
beautiful testament to blunt honesty of Pekar. The author is not con
cerned with glossing over the truth with hyperbole and fantasy; instead,
he presents an amazing collection of short, illustrated stories that man
age to worm their way into readers’ lives.
Originally published in magazine form, “American Splendor” is a
collection of the best stories to emerge from a magazine. From reflec
tions on his failed marriages, his growing obsession with record collect
ing and his many jobs, Pekar’s stories cover a broad spectrum of topics.
Each story is illustrated by a who’s who list of talented underground
artists including Robert Crumb, Kevin Brown and Gerry Shamray.
Never steering away from his follies, Pekar tells about his life in all
of his triumphs and tragedies. Stories about his ever-present loneliness
and his desperate need for recognition have a tendency to nuike the read
er pause and reflect. Pekar often uses his writing as a catharsis to purge
obsession with getting his voice back consumes his life, almostt vide W
point of ruining his marriage. While it is obvious to readers ttu
obsession is responsible for his marital strains, Pekar is convince )lK ]dy p
disease itself is responsible for the problems between him and his
This adds a depth of realism that most authors fail to meet in theirs
Like a modem philosopher, Pekar’s insights tire an excellent wa\
readers to create their own thought processes.
‘American Splendor” was the basis for a motion picture of the. c ;tereoty
xiends (
name in 2(X)3 and won the Sundance Film Festival Grand Juiyh
With the new resurgence of interest in his work, Pekar continues to Bjre out
ate and publish the American Splendor magazine. New readers into (lease ai
ed in escaping from their own lives for a while may be advised toes
into the mind of Harvey Pekar and maybe learn a bit about themsei
- Robert Sm
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Is it the wind that generates electricity?
Or is it the idea to harness it? At GE, we
believe in the power of ideas. Ideas that
not only turn wind into electricity but
make the world a better place than it
was the day before. If you have those
kinds of ideas, we hope you'contact us.
GE Careers
gecareers.com /notredame
The future relies on
inventions from GE.
GE’s future relies
on people like you.
GE is looking for some
motivated Aggies to fill
engineering positions this
spring.
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Come see us at the
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January 27th
Reed Arena
10 AM-5 PM
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LAST 3 DAYS
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SENIORS
We're back by popular demand, but this is your FINAL CHANCE.
Graduation portraits for the 2004 Aggieland Yearbook will be taken yearbook; resits are $10. To make an appointment, call Thornton Studio
today, Jan. 26. through Wednesday. Jan. 28. 2004. in Room 407 of at 1-800-883-9449.
Rudder. There is no sitting fee required to be photographed for the
Aggieland 2004
Texas A&M University Yearbook *