Bohemians: A Graphic History - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1781682615 ISBN 13: 9781781682616

Publisher: Verso, 2014

Synopsis

The nineteenth-century countercultures that came to define the bohemian lifestyle spanned both sides of the Atlantic, ranging from Walt Whitman to Josephine Baker, and from Gertrude Stein to Thelonius Monk. Bohemians is the graphic history of this movement and its illustrious figures, recovering the utopian ideas behind millennial communities, and covering the rise of Greenwich Village, the multiracial and radical jazz world, and West Coast and Midwest bohemians, among other scenes.

Drawn by an all-star cast of comics artists, including rising figures like Sabrina Jones, Lance Tooks, and Summer McClinton, alongside established artists like Peter Kuper and Spain Rodriguez, Bohemians is a broad and entertaining account of the rebel impulse in American cultural history.

featuring work by Spain Rodriguez, Sharon Rudahl, Peter Kuper,  Sabrina Jones, David Lasky, Afua Richardson, Lance Tooks, Milton Knight, and others.
The ebook edition is expanded from the paperback edition, and includes additional chapters on the swing music scene, La Boheme and midwest bohemians, as well as expanded material on the Greenwich Village intellectuals, Walt Whitman and Harlem jazz club Minton's Playhouse.

About this title

About the Author

Paul Buhle retired from Brown University and Providence, Rhode Island in 2009, to Madison, Wisconsin and full-time work editing comics. His many books include the Verso volumes Marxism in the United States (third edition, 2013), Wobblies!, and the authorized biography of C.L.R. James, The Artist as Revolutionary.

David Berger was born and raised first in Brooklyn and then in that most bohemian of suburbs, Croton-on-Hudson. He currently writes, teaches and occupies Wall Street while residing in Chelsea with his wife, the singer/songwriter Audra MsBlu Berger.

Review

"both a visual treat and an edifying look at alternative visual culture." —Library Journal, STARRED REVIEW

“A terrific appraisal of culture’s gypsies, tramps and thieves, worthy of the editors’ judgment: Obituaries for bohemia have, in short, always been premature.””—Kirkus Reviews

“Engaging, informative and inspiring.” JOE SACCO, author of Palestine

“Great introduction to an American century of influences, individuals and scenes producing ideas for the future to engage.” SARAH SCHULMAN, author of The Gentrification of the Mind: Witness to a Lost Imagination

"Words become graphic, and the graphics bring Bohemia alive in this wonderful history compiled by Buhle and Berger. There is nothing worse than being severed from one's own roots, as demonstrated by decades of identity movements; there is nothing worse than being stripped of one's heritage, unless it's the theft of identity by thieving oppressors. This graphic anthology beautifully reconstructs the roots of America's counter-culture from the lost stories of men and women, black and white, gay and straight, who were the original refuseniks of Bohemia. I can't wait for more." Tom Hayden, author of The Long Sixties, former State Senator and leader of Sixties peace, justice and environmental movements

 Praise for Buhle's Wobblies:

"Excavates an essential part of American history ... and does so with style, great graphics, and no punches pulled."—Luc Sante

"The excitement and inspiration of their creative and courageous work is brilliantly
captured in this wonderful graphic history."—Noam Chomsky

Praise for Paul Buhle and Howard Zinn's A People's History of the American Empire:

"Ingenious in its conception and brilliant in execution. It is urgently necessary for our times: read this book and see how to raise your voice against all the forces that would drown you out. A modern activist's primer!"—Ben Affleck

About this edition

• Publisher: Verso
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 1781682615
• ISBN 13: 9781781682616
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 304
• Editor: Buhle Paul, Berger David