# The Bible's Book of Genesis by R. Crumb **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 4, 2009, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bibles-book-of-genesis-by-r-crumb/516352 "2009-11-04T23:37:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2009, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bibles-book-of-genesis-by-r-crumb/516352/1 "2009-11-04T23:37:15Z")
This may have already been noted but I ran across it and thought it was pretty neat. [R. Crumb Zaps the Bible](http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/03/31/r-crumb-zaps-the-bible/) > [@](#): > > Having already given the world Mr. Natural, the cartoonist Robert Crumb has finally finished his long-awaited work about another mystical gray-bearded figure — namely the Almighty — in a comic-strip retelling of the Book of Genesis, The Guardian reported. On his Web site, [rcrumb.com](http://rcrumb.com), Mr. Crumb announced that after four years he had completed the project, adapted from the King James Bible and a translation by Robert Alter. The finished work, called “Robert Crumb’s Book of Genesis” is scheduled to be released on Oct. 19. “It’s very visual,” Mr. Crumb said, according to The Guardian. “It’s lurid. Full of all kinds of crazy, weird things that will really surprise people.” Tangentially the NYT page has a [interesting narrated slide show](http://www.nytimes.com/packages/khtml/2007/01/20/style/20070121_COMICS_AUDIOSLIDESHOW.html)by his wife on her work as well. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2009, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bibles-book-of-genesis-by-r-crumb/516352/2 "2009-11-05T01:45:51Z")
There’s a great interview with him on NPR’s Talk of the Nation a few days ago; interested people should be able to find the recording via their webpage. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2009, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bibles-book-of-genesis-by-r-crumb/516352/3 "2009-11-05T02:20:11Z")
I was looking at this at the bookstore the other night. His translation is sometimes interesting (he admits to picking and choosing and sometimes using his own judgment twixt translations). I was curious about some of his artwork though. For example Sarai the wife/half-sister of Abram, repeatedly said to be a woman of incredible beauty, he portrays as looking pretty much like [Alley Oop](http://blog.newsok.com/nerdage/files/2008/09/150px-alleyoop.jpg) in drag: she’s big and square jawed and masculine, i.e. ugly by our standards. I was wondering if he based her on statues from the time or if it was just his own imagination. ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2009, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bibles-book-of-genesis-by-r-crumb/516352/4 "2009-11-05T02:40:48Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > I was looking at this at the bookstore the other night. His translation is sometimes interesting (he admits to picking and choosing and sometimes using his own judgment twixt translations). Is this any different from any other version of the Bible? ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2009, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bibles-book-of-genesis-by-r-crumb/516352/5 "2009-11-05T03:07:30Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > For example Sarai the wife/half-sister of Abram, repeatedly said to be a woman of incredible beauty, he portrays as looking pretty much like [Alley Oop](http://blog.newsok.com/nerdage/files/2008/09/150px-alleyoop.jpg) in drag: she’s big and square jawed and masculine, i.e. ugly by our standards. I was wondering if he based her on statues from the time or if it was just his own imagination. That actually sounds like it’s drawn to Crumb’s own preferences in women. Google Image Search on “Crumb Devil Girl” and see what turns up. If that matches - then yes, he’s got her drawn as someone really attractive (to him). He admits in the NPR interview that his sex-focused work didn’t sell well at all because most people don’t find that look sexy, and it was intensely personal work. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2009, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bibles-book-of-genesis-by-r-crumb/516352/6 "2009-11-05T06:30:01Z")
I’ve failed to find it in two different book stores here in Chicago. The Borders on State at Chicago supposedly had six copies, but three different were searching for them with no luck. I fear religious extremists may be hiding copies. I have no interest in the Bible, but I’m a huge Crumb fan, and can proudly say I own a complete set of _Weirdo_ magazine. I don’t have every one of the _Complete Crumb_ books, but the problem is that regular book stores don’t want to carry his work, and many comic shops apparently are forbidden to do so by their leases. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2009, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bibles-book-of-genesis-by-r-crumb/516352/7 "2009-11-05T06:52:01Z")
> [@Ferret\_Herder](#): > > That actually sounds like it’s drawn to Crumb’s own preferences in women. Google Image Search on “Crumb Devil Girl” and see what turns up. If that matches - then yes, he’s got her drawn as someone really attractive (to him). He admits in the NPR interview that his sex-focused work didn’t sell well at all because most people don’t find that look sexy, and it was intensely personal work. Yep, put her in Fashions by Genesis and [that’s](http://sirrealcomix.mrainey.com/page/_stuff/crumbstatue-devilgirl2.jpg)her. ---
**Author:** ![sqweels](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f19dbf/32.png) [@sqweels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sqweels)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2009, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bibles-book-of-genesis-by-r-crumb/516352/8 "2009-11-09T20:15:47Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > ..many comic shops apparently are forbidden to do so by their leases. Wow, really? Is R. Crumb singled out by name or is his work just lumped in with “adult” publications? ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2009, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bibles-book-of-genesis-by-r-crumb/516352/9 "2009-11-09T20:20:51Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > I fear religious extremists may be hiding copies. Why would they be doing that? From all accounts it’s a very faithful - you might say literal - rendering of the book of Genesis. “Religious extremists” maybe rushing out to get their copies 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2009, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bibles-book-of-genesis-by-r-crumb/516352/10 "2009-11-09T20:40:12Z")
> [@Skammer](#): > > Why would they be doing that? From all accounts it’s a very faithful - you might say literal - rendering of the book of Genesis. Tis. I looked through it and there’s nothing offensive in it that’s not straight from the Bible; it’s an almost verse by verse depiction without any commentary other than a few asterixes where he’ll mention that “I chose translation X over translation Y” or “I depicted the serpent with legs and arms even though the Bible does not mention them because it makes the ‘slither on your belly’ comment make more sense”. (The serpent before the transformation looks kind of like the [Gorn](http://www.trekp.com/posters/gw066-gorn.jpg) from STAR TREK.) ---
**Author:** ![shiftless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9c0ed/32.png) [@shiftless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shiftless)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2009, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bibles-book-of-genesis-by-r-crumb/516352/11 "2009-11-09T20:50:16Z")
Alas, I was in Richmond VA a couple of weeks ago and strolled past a theater where he was giving some sort of interview/show. I walked past at 7:15 when the show started at 7:30. I had nothing to do that night. As I read the sign (which showed a scene form the new book) I heard a man next to me on his cell phone shouting “I bought two tickets, what am I supposed to do the other one?” Something tells me I should have gone in 🙂 Anybody see that show? Did I make a huge mistake or just a little one? ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2009, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bibles-book-of-genesis-by-r-crumb/516352/12 "2009-11-09T22:15:55Z")
> [@sqweels](#): > > Wow, really? Is R. Crumb singled out by name or is his work just lumped in with “adult” publications? Anything “Adult”. That was in Kansas City. Chicago should be more liberal, but I’ve not been able to find any comic store here that has any interest in the “Undergrounds”. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2009, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bibles-book-of-genesis-by-r-crumb/516352/13 "2009-11-10T00:19:49Z")
Try Chicago Comics on Clark Street, just north of Belmont/the Belmont Blue Line stop. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2009, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bibles-book-of-genesis-by-r-crumb/516352/14 "2009-11-10T00:48:14Z")
> [@shiftless](#): > > Alas, I was in Richmond VA a couple of weeks ago and strolled past a theater where he was giving some sort of interview/show. I walked past at 7:15 when the show started at 7:30. I had nothing to do that night. As I read the sign (which showed a scene form the new book) I heard a man next to me on his cell phone shouting “I bought two tickets, what am I supposed to do the other one?” Something tells me I should have gone in 🙂 > > Anybody see that show? Did I make a huge mistake or just a little one? Depends. I think he’s interesting, but not worship worthy. Crumb’s work is an acquired taste and many people (esp. liberal women) see his a lot of his underground comics art as extremely misogynistic (with some justification). But he really (and I think this is admirable) doesn’t seem to care much about what other people think about his art. He really does do it for his own amusement and gratification. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2009, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bibles-book-of-genesis-by-r-crumb/516352/15 "2009-11-10T01:44:44Z")
Crumb actually shows a bit of restraint in his renderings. An example that comes to mind is from [Genesis 24](http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+24&version=NIV): > [@](#): > > 2 He said to the chief [a] servant in his household, the one in charge of all that he had, “Put your hand under my thigh. 3 I want you to swear by the LORD, the God of heaven and the God of earth, that you will not get a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I am living, 4 but will go to my country and my own relatives and get a wife for my son Isaac.” I always took this to be a euphemism for “place your hands on my testicles”, a common form of oath I understand (and one some have argued relates etymologically to _testi_mony, though others dispute). Crumb just shows him placing his hand on the old man’s biceps femoris or thereabouts before he heads off to find Abraham a daughter-in-law. An odd choice: the angels with the flaming sword look more like griffins than humanoid, while the angels who go to Sodom look more like Abram (i.e. old men with long white beards). Of course my favorite interpretation was Huston’s THE BIBLE in which God and the angels were all portrayed in a cameo by Peter O’Toole. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2009, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bibles-book-of-genesis-by-r-crumb/516352/16 "2009-11-10T14:16:56Z")
> [@astro](#): > > Depends. I think he’s interesting, but not worship worthy. Crumb’s work is an acquired taste and many people (esp. liberal women) see his a lot of his underground comics art as extremely misogynistic (with some justification). Crumb’s defense has usually been that he hates men every bit as much, that women are looking at his work and only seeing the women, and mistaking misanthropy as misogyny. This was discussed quite a bit in the movie Crumb, and I’ve read various feminist critiques of his work - and I still don’t see that he is any more misogynistic than most men. Just more honest. Brutally so. I see more misogyny every day in popular culture (“bitches” and “hos” in rap, for instance) than I’ve ever seen in Crumb’s work. > [@](#): > > But he really (and I think this is admirable) doesn’t seem to care much about what other people think about his art. He really does do it for his own amusement and gratification. That is very true. He has his obsessions, and has been drawing every bully who every beat him up and woman he fruitlessly desired since he was an adolescent over and over. But along the way, he has created some truly great art. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2009, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bibles-book-of-genesis-by-r-crumb/516352/17 "2009-11-10T14:17:57Z")
> [@Ferret\_Herder](#): > > Try Chicago Comics on Clark Street, just north of Belmont/the Belmont Blue Line stop. I’ll have a look, thanks! ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2009, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bibles-book-of-genesis-by-r-crumb/516352/18 "2009-11-10T15:55:59Z")
If it’s a literal rendition, why does the link in the OP say the author “Zaps” the Bible? In my mind, zapping something would mean shooting it with a laser and incinerating it. When I saw that on the preview to this thread, I thought it meant it was going to be tearing it apart. I guess I’m hoping there’s something I’m missing. Anyways, are there any excerpts available online? I’m probably not gonna get to a bookstore for quite a long time. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2009, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bibles-book-of-genesis-by-r-crumb/516352/19 "2009-11-10T16:19:50Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > If it’s a literal rendition, why does the link in the OP say the author “Zaps” the Bible? In my mind, zapping something would mean shooting it with a laser and incinerating it. When I saw that on the preview to this thread, I thought it meant it was going to be tearing it apart. It’s a dumb joke about Crumb’s groundbreaking comic book series [Zap Comix](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zap_comics). ---
**Author:** ![Floppy\_Joe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3bc359/32.png) [@Floppy\_Joe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floppy_Joe)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2009, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bibles-book-of-genesis-by-r-crumb/516352/20 "2009-11-10T18:03:16Z")
…too soon… [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bibles-book-of-genesis-by-r-crumb/516352.md?page=2)