This Spring, the New Press will release a graphic adaptation of Studs Terkel’s Working. Not only is Studs a legend, but this book is quite possibly one of the most important texts of the modern era.
For this project, radical historian Prof. Paul Buhle (he co-edited the Wobblies graphic novel with Nicole Schulman, a good friend of Justseeds) gathered together an impressive assortment of artists to produce the imagery, while Harvey Pekar scripted the entire thing. I haven’t seen the book yet (minus my own illustrations), but it’s bound to be chingón!
Artists include:
• Pablo Callejo
• Gary Dumm
• Danny Fingeroth
• Peter Gullerud
• Bob Hall
• Ryan Inzana
• Sabrina Jones
• Peter Kuper
• Terry LaBan
• Dylan Miner (yeah, that’s me!)
• Pat Moriarity
• Emily Nemens
• Joan Reilly
• Sharon Rudahl
• Nick Thorkelson
• Anne Timmons
• Lance Tooks
According to the New Press website:
In the thirty-five years since Pulitzer Prize–winner Studs Terkel’s Working first documented American workers’ hopes and dreams, that “deep penetration of American thought and feeling” (Los Angeles Times) has sold over a million copies, captivating readers with accounts of how their fellow citizens make a living.
A masterpiece of words, Working is now adapted into comic-book form by Harvey Pekar, the blue-collar antihero of his American Book Award–winning comics series American Splendor. Brilliantly scripting and arranging Terkel’s interviews, Pekar collaborates with established comics veterans and some of the comic underground’s brightest new talent, selected by editor Paul Buhle. Readers will find a visual palette of influences from Mexican, African American, superhero, and feminist art, each piece an electric melding of artist and subject. This is a book that will both delight Terkel fans and introduce his work to a whole new audience—a fitting tribute to an American legend.
Harvey Pekar is a comic-book writer and author of the autobiographical American Splendor series, which was adapted into an Academy Award–nominated film. Pekar is also a prolific jazz and book critic. He lives in Cleveland, Ohio. Paul Buhle is a senior lecturer at Brown University and an editor of several books of comic art, including Wobblies!, A Dangerous Woman, Students for a Democratic Society, and A People’s History of American Empire. He lives in Providence, Rhode Island.
Studs Terkel (1912-2008) was the bestselling author of numerous books of oral history, including Working, Hard Times, the Pulitzer Prize–winning “The Good War”, P.S. and his memoir Touch and Go (all available from The New Press).
