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The "four generations" are Al Hirshfeld, Jules Feiffer, Art Spiegelman and Chris Ware, and I was surprised and disappointed to find that maybe 1/3 of the book is actually about those four. Bill Maudlin gets a spotlight, and I enjoyed reading about him. A turgid Phoebe Gloeckner (whose work I like) article bored me, as did a pointless Simpsons "best of."
The Hirshfeld pieces were cloying and annoying. Spiegelman only contributes as an interviewer, talking to both Hirshfeld and Feiffer, and he's not a great interviewer. Groth is, and his Feiffer piece is great. So is the conversation between Ware and Feiffer. Alexander Theroux's ass-kissing, wanky ode to Ware's genius (though not misplaced) was massively irritating.
I had to skim a few articles as well as nearly all of the comics in the back section.
The Hirshfeld pieces were cloying and annoying. Spiegelman only contributes as an interviewer, talking to both Hirshfeld and Feiffer, and he's not a great interviewer. Groth is, and his Feiffer piece is great. So is the conversation between Ware and Feiffer. Alexander Theroux's ass-kissing, wanky ode to Ware's genius (though not misplaced) was massively irritating.
I had to skim a few articles as well as nearly all of the comics in the back section.