Hold Me!

by Jules Feiffer

Blending together a series of sketches, skits and vignettes, this delightful revue peoples the stage with the engaging and all-too-human characters made famous through the author's renowned cartoons. The theme is the plight of today's city dweller, and the hang-ups, personality difficulties, identity crises and assorted mishaps which beset those trapped in what may begin as urban confusion but all too often ends as urban anguish. Staged with the utmost simplicity, and with each performer assuming a variety of roles, the play abounds in warmth and humor, and in the sad/funny truths that, in the final essence, are the very stuff of life.

Genres: Plays, Drama, Humor, Comics

Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1960

About the author

Jules Feiffer was an American cartoonist, playwright, screenwriter, and author whose work left a significant imprint on American satire and cultural commentary. Emerging from the postwar era of newspaper comics, he first gained recognition through his long-running comic strip published in The Village Voice, where his loose, expressive line drawings and psychologically sharp dialogue captured the anxieties, contradictions, and social performances of contemporary life. Feiffer used humor to critique politics, relationships, and everyday neuroses, developing a voice that felt conversational, self-aware, and deeply engaged with the shifting cultural moods of the United States. His graphic style, which often emphasized gesture and tone over detailed renderings, was equally distinctive, and helped expand the visual vocabulary of editorial and literary cartooning. Beyond his cartoons, Feiffer became an accomplished writer for stage and screen; his play Little Murders offered a darkly comic exploration of violence and alienation in urban America, while his screenplay for Mike Nichols’s film Carnal Knowledge drew widespread attention for its unflinching examination of intimacy and desire. Feiffer also wrote children’s books, including the popular The Phantom Tollbooth, for which he provided the illustrations that helped establish the book’s imaginative visual identity. He demonstrated an enduring commitment to making art accessible, engaging with students and general audiences alike through teaching and public appearances, and continued producing work across multiple genres throughout his life. His comics and writings were often autobiographical in spirit, even when fictionalized, providing commentary on his experiences growing up in New York and moving through decades of cultural change. Feiffer received numerous honors for his contributions to American arts, including major awards recognizing his innovation in cartooning, his influence on graphic storytelling, and his impact on theater and film. His later work included longer-form graphic novels and personal memoirs, reflecting on childhood, family, and the evolution of his artistic voice. Feiffer remained an active and inquisitive creator well into his later years, consistently exploring new creative forms and responding to contemporary political and social issues. His legacy is seen in the work of generations of cartoonists and writers who drew inspiration from his willingness to bring emotional depth, social critique, and literary ambition to comics and satire. Feiffer’s work stands as a testament to the power of humor to illuminate the complexities of human behavior and the cultural forces that shape everyday life.

Reviews

[Ed Erwin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Classic cartoons from a gifted satirist. I believe most of these were published in the Village Voice in the early 60's. They are formatted as about 4 to 8 panels (without borders) involving one or a few characters talking to themselves or each other. Some characters were used repeatedly through his carreer. Occasionally political, but mostly focused on character traits. The characters reveal their insecurities and inner contradictions often without realizing it. Same level of quality in the writing as, for example, Bloom County, or Doonsebury, but not as widely known.

[Anton Segers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Erg geestige verzameling herkenbare theaterscènes van de hand van de cartoonist Feiffer, die vooral focussen op de zwaktes en onzekerheden die des mensen zijn - en ook, met veel bijtend sarcasme, op de hufterigheid die vele mannen helaas eigen is. Doordat Feiffer een begaafd cartoonist is - die van 'Peanuts' (Charlie Brown!) - slaagt hij erin met een minimum aan woorden een maximum aan wereld op te roepen.

[Al McCarty · Rating 4 out of 5]

1962 first edition. Fifth collection of Jules Feiffer's self-titled Village Voice cartoon.
It's interesting and maybe a little ironic that Feiffer's biography here describes him as primarily a children's book author, although the work he was doing in the three and a half decades before that is what made his name, of course.
It helps to know what was happening in that time-frame to fully enjoy these cartoons, but many of them still possess universality.

[Niki D. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wasn't expecting the darkness that came along with most of the comics, but it's always fun to read time-sensitive material and get a feel for the air and attitude that accompanied the 60's, in this case.

[Travis Hi. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was always vaguely aware of this Feiffer guy and having finally read a whole book by him (granted, it's a slim paperback), he's now my favorite cartoonist ever (for this week). He deals in universals like social/political anxiety/ennui (often with one character giving us a monologue, desparately trying to explain herself) and interpersonal dysfuntion of the "I hate you! I love you! I hate you!" variety. All very Woody Allen-esque, and like Woody's older stuff it holds up despite constant dated references to Nixon, pop psychology, and (surprisingly frequently) bomb shelters. Seriously, if you believed this book, every baby boomer lived in a bomb shelter until 1980. The art? The art is loose and doodly, often to the point of abstraction, all the better to display the artist's astute rendering of faces in transition from one emotion to the next--at once cartoonishly broad yet subtle.

[Virginia Walter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Vintage cartoons from the early 1960s. Nobody captured the urban neurotic zeitgeist of the time better than Feiffer.