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.