Hands Up, Herbie!

ISBN: 194643339X

Author: Perr, Joey

Condition: Used

Literary Nonfiction. Graphic Novel. Biography. Born into a mob-linked Jewish family in Brighton Beach, Herbie is determined to become an artist."HANDS UP, HERBIE! is a brilliant work of comic art. In his debut graphic novel, Joey Perr brings us close--maybe a bit too close--to his father, Herb. Herbie is a man at the crossroads, who journeys from a violent beginning in the Jewish, working-class New York of the 1950s, through the SOHO art world of the 1970s, to a reckoning with social responsibility and family life. The story is at times terrifying, at other times uplifting, but always told simply, humbly, and with perfect economy. If you care about comics, or if you don't care about comics, but you care about human beings, you should read this book."--Seth Tobocman"With deft stylistic economy, Joey Perr unfolds his father Herb's escape from a childhood of poverty, crime, and brutality on the outermost fringe of Brooklyn, to become an artist, activist, and educator in Greenwich Village. The journey spans four generations, from the author back to his Eastern European--born great-grandfather, examining the multigenerational scars of immigration. The cultural distance Herbie travels from Brooklyn to Manhattan is as profound as that traversed by his old-world grandfather. A highly accessible and lively read, HANDS UP, HERBIE! is a reflection on the tension between our indelible heritage and our potential for self-determination."--Sabrina Jones"HANDS UP, HERBIE! is a delightful, matter-of-fact graphic biography of artist Herb Perr, in his words and Joey Perr's pictures. A powerful and moving story that is imaged with empathy and without pathos. I worked with Herb Perr during the 1980s and have long admired his commitment to art and social change. Joey Perr does his life justice."--Lucy Lippard