I just ordered R. Crumb’s Heroes of Blues, Jazz, and Country . The reason I did is I wanted to see the reverent Crumb in order to contrast him in my own mind with the irreverent Crumb. Crumb is often accused of irreverence. And he often guilty as charged; but I suspect there’s more to his irreverence than meets the eye. His treatment of Genesis is mixed, in parts a reverent handling, in others not–actually blasphemous, technically speaking. I’ll get to... Read more
Three or four years back I queried Books and Culture about writing a review of Crumb’s, Book of Genesis Illustrated. I received a “thanks, but no thanks” letter. From the wording I couldn’t help but think Crumb was too hot for them to handle. (Maybe that’s unfair, maybe I was the problem, I’m not the typical Books and Culture writer. That would have been fine with me, so long as they had handed the job on to someone they felt... Read more
I begin with a confession: I am not a fan of Robert Crumb. But from what I’ve seen and read, I don’t think that would bother him. On the contrary, I think he’s puzzled by the adulation he does receive in some quarters because, it seems to me, Robert Crumb hates himself. Concerning that last point, I’ll return to it in a minute. Back to me for a moment. I have been influenced by his draftsmanship, especially his wooly cross... Read more
I just finished a tribute to Reverend Howard Finster this morning and thought I’d share it. (Colored inks on board.) Click on the image to enlarge it see it close up. Anyone familiar with the tribute art to the great folk musicians of the past by William Stout or Robert Crumb will recognize their influences. I’m thinking about doing something similar for folk artists and backwoods types I like. This is the first. For a little taste of Howard Finster,... Read more
It can take years of study for a fish to see water. It did for me. Prepositions in the Water What got me thinking of the, “fish don’t know what water is” illustration is a preposition, a little one. The preposition in. It’s a tremendously important one for evangelicals. It’s at the heart of our evangelism. We want people to invite Jesus into their hearts. Evangelicals don’t use icons, except those by Warner Sallman. His are sacred. We used to... Read more
We can hope that Western civilization is in the early stages of awakening from a bad dream. Mary Eberstadt’s new book may help with that. It is more a stirring nudge than a blaring alarm—in part because it is an accessible work of social science, not a moral treatise. Throughout, she reassures us that she is just looking for the truth—the truth being amoral and merely factual in this case. Apart from my own doubts about the possibility or desirability... Read more
If someone told me a story about an old industrial town that defended its beautiful creche from a group of tasteless, and mean-spirited atheists,… and if that story included a judgment that allowed the town to keep its cherished creche on condition that the atheists could put up a display of their own,… and if the story ended with the atheists erecting a plywood standee painted white with a sign that read: “Keep America Secular!”,… I would feel like an... Read more
I share good news with family and friends less often than I used to. I’ve lost too many relationships that way. Tell people you’re sick or you’ve lost your job and the sympathy just oozes from every pore. Tell them you just got an award and…crickets. I’m happy. I really am. If I were to tell you all the reasons why (and there are many), it would probably irritate you. I might come across as a gloater, even if I were... Read more
A Christian woman, teaching at an evangelical college, has unintentionally stirred controversy by donning the Hijab. But if controversy was what she had really been after, all she needed to do is wear a hat to church because the Apostle Paul told her to. I didn’t want to talk about the hijab thing, it seems like ambulance chasing for bloggers; but I can’t help myself. It’s a teachable moment as they say. How many times does head coverings for women... Read more
So I’m a little embarrassed to admit it, but I like granola. But why should that make me a hippie? There’s probably a better word—but hippie just works for me. They’ve won by the way—the hippies I mean. Not the unkemptness thankfully, but the outlook. You can see them everywhere now—where you might expect, in Hollywood, and where you probably don’t, Silicon Valley and Wall Street. It is their appearance on Wall Street that tells you they won. When Monsanto... Read more
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