Our Cancer Year by Harvey Pekar (well it's his story, ain't it?) and Joyce Brabner (might as well give her some credit for not killing the protagonist)

I am NOT a fan of Harvey Pekar and I don’t believe I can ever be one. He’s the most self-indulgent character I’ve ever read about (thankfully I’ve never had to meet him face to face) and despite what everyone else says, I DO NOT believe he’s a good writer. He’s the kind of person you never invite to your party because his negativity spoils everyone’s good mood. Don’t feel bad, he wouldn’t want to go to your party anyway, because he thinks that parties are strictly for money-crazed prom queens, and they’ll ruin his bad mood, which he has carefully cultivated.

If you’re wondering why I spent $10 on a used copy of this book, it’s because I was fascinated by the idea of Harvey Pekar having cancer. Now wait, I’m not saying that cancer is interesting or funny, I just wondered if his outlook would change. Would he keep on being negative and unpleasant, or would he realize that life isn’t bad by comparison? Would he develop an appreciation for life that cancer survivors usually have? Would his wife be able to put up with it?

There answer to everything is no. Cancer turns the typical whining Harvey Pekar into whining Harvey Pekar on steroids! Not a day goes by during this year of cancer treatment that he doesn’t announce his impending death. I don’t know how his wife puts up with it for so long; there’s nothing in their marriage that’s worth staying in it for. At least she has her hobbies and her interests, or she’d go crazy.

I love comics, but I hate Pekar’s American Splendor. If it weren’t for Robert Crumb, this guy would’ve been just another ambitionless file clerk in Cleveland. Pekar seems to prefer when things are bad, because when they’re good, he can’t claim that life stinks. He reminds me of Oscar the Grouch, who’s only happy when people aren’t nice to him. But at least Oscar the Grouch has personality. Pekar, on the other hand, bores me to death. Thank god Letterman had the good sense to dump him from his show.