Bohemians: A Graphic History

by Paul M. Buhle (Editor), David Berger

“Marvelously drawn tribute to free thinkers ... Engaging, informative, and inspiring.” – Joe Sacco

The countercultures that came to define bohemia spanned the Atlantic, encompassing Walt Whitman's Brooklyn and the Folies Bergère of Josephine Baker, Gertrude Stein's salons and the Manhattan clubs where Dizzy Gillespie made his name. Edited by Paul Buhle and David Berger, Bohemians is the graphic history of this movement and its illustrious figures. The stories collected here revisit the utopian ideas behind millennial communities, the rise of Greenwich Village and Harlem, the multiracial and radical jazz and dance worlds, and the West Coast, Southern, and Midwest bohemias of America, among other radical scenes. Drawn by an all-star cast of comic artists, Bohemiansis 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 more. 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.

Genres: Graphic Novels, History, Comics, Nonfiction, Art, Graphic Novels Comics, Biography

304 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 15, 2014

About the author

Now retired as Senior Lecturer at Brown University, Paul Merlyn Buhle is the author or editor of 35 volumes including histories of radicalism in the United States and the Caribbean, studies of popular culture, and a series of nonfiction comic art volumes.

Reviews

[Georgina Koutrouditsou · Rating 4 out of 5]

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Πολύ πριν γίνουν μόδα οι Hipsters, πολύ πριν υπάρξουν οι Beatniks, υπήρξαν οι Μποέμ. Ποιος θα το περίμενε ότι η Βοημία θα έδινε το όνομά της σε ένα ολόκληρο κίνημα ανθρώπων που έπαιξαν σημαντικό ρόλο στην καλλιτεχνική και πολιτιστική ζωή τόσο της Ευρώπης όσο και των Η.Π.Α.;

Το παρόν έργο αποτελεί συνεργασία αρκετών εξαιρετικών σχεδιαστών comics όπως οι Spain Rodriguez, Sharon Rudahl, Peter Kuper, Sabrina Jones, David Lasky, Afua Richardson, Lance Tooks, Milton Knight και άλλων πολλών. Υπό την καθοδήγηση και επιμέλεια των Paul Buhle και David Berger μέσα σε 9 κεφάλαια παρατηρούμε τη μαγευτική ζωή προσωπικοτήτων όπως οι Walt Whitman, Gertrude Stein, Marcel Duchamp, Josephine Baker και γνωρίζουμε έργα και καταστάσεις άγνωστες σε εμάς. Ο αναγνώστης θα ενθουσιαστεί με την απλότητα που παρέχονται τόσες πολλές πληροφορίες μέσω εξαιρετικών σκίτσων. Μια ανθολογία προσωπικοτήτων που τις συναντάς στα περιθώρια της ιστορίας των χρόνων 1850-1940, αλλά αξίζει να τις ανακαλύψεις. Στο τέλος του βιβλίου παρέχεται πλούσια βιβλιογραφία για παραπάνω μελέτη.

[Yesenia Barragan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Want to know about the 'original' hipsters? Read this lovely book.

I remember being on a plane going from Knoxville, Tennessee to NYC, sixteen years old, finishing Kerouac's famous "On The Road," thinking to myself, "I didn't know that you could write like that!" My teenage self was reacting to the complete disregard to the dominant cultural norms of Writing, and of 'respectable' culture itself, by the poets and writers of the Beat Generation like Kerouac, Ginsberg, and so forth. But Kerouac, Ginsberg, Corso, and the whole lot of Beats were the grandchildren of the 'original' Beats, the Bohemians, the heroes of this fabulous graphic history.

Edited by David Berger and Paul Buhle, retired Professor of American Civilization at Brown University and prolific writer of radicalism in the US, and most recently author of several wonderful graphic histories like A People's History of American Empire (along with the late Howard Zinn), The Beats: A Graphic History (along with the late Harvey Pekar), Wobblies!: A Graphic History of the Industrial Workers of the World , among several others, Bohemians: A Graphic History beautifully traces the long and winding history of the (mostly American) Bohemians (or bohemians, as Buhle urges us to consider in his short but sweet introduction) starting in the alleyways of Paris, crossing the shorelines to NYC, to Brooklyn, to Walt Whitman, Mable Dodge, Claude McKay, and other bohemian spirits, all guided by the fantastic artwork and story-telling of artists like Sabrina Jones, Summer McClinton, Sharon Rudahl, Nick Thorkelson, among many others. What's beautiful (both aesthetically and intellectually) about Bohemians is the way it is able to capture such a rich, varied history of such a loose yet united aesthetic cultural group (of dancers, flâneurs, artists, musicians, and their working-class and otherwise muses) so creatively and concisely, a hard feat by all means. In their distinct work, each artist brings to life each slice of this dynamic history.

As Buhle writes in the introduction, "Landlords beware, but what made that original set of young people unique was their devotion to art, to love, and to each other, rather than to respectability and social advance." In this time of fetishization with who-will-be-the-next-Steve-Jobs and other boring late capitalist obsessions with new efficiencies, Bohemians is an urgent and playful homage to our aesthetic ancestors who laid the groundwork for the struggle against the commodification of time, play, and life itself. A lovely, lovely book.

[Alger Smythe-Hopkins · Rating 2 out of 5]

A cute comic anthology of free spirits in Western Society since the coining of the term "Bohemian" in the 1850s. This could have been a great project if the artists had been willing to do more than a greatest BoHo hits compilation, and if the editors had cleaned up the standard cradle-to-grave narrative given to most of the subjects. Many of the chapters wallow in minute biographic details that are simply not important to their status in the bohemian community. There isn't very much that ties the individuals together except chronology, and the individuals described have lives that influenced one another greatly, but there is no sense of a lasting legacy either within the bohemian community or in the greater culture for most of these tales. Some of the selections are questionable and were obviously made for reasons of hero worship over attending to the theme of the collection. Does Billy Holiday really qualify as bohemian? If so then why not Louie Armstrong? NIna Simone?
In terms of construction, the biggest failure is the chapter concerning Woodie Guthrie, which failed to give any sense of his work, his importance, his life, in favor of a grinding and incoherent array of annual panels packed with exposition. While Woodie's chapter is stilted and formulaic, there are other sections that are simply illegible and feel like wasted opportunities. The section devoted to Mabel Dodge is a good example of this: We are introduced to her, discover she is fond of sex, and then are told she knew radicals and writers. Done. What is there in this three page treatment that does not lower the bar for inclusion into the societie bohème ? Speaking of which, we are given a chapter on the cult of Trilby, but nothing on the equally formative impact of Puccini's opera in creating BoHo chic?
The sections of this collection that I most admire are those that try to incorporate the artist's work into the chapter, there are a few poets and dancer chapters that are stylistically vibrant and begin to break the rigidity of this volume, but only one of them succeeds in fully escaping it.
The one standout section is the narrative centered upon Alfred Stieglitz and his crucial role in making New York City the capital of 20th Century Modernism. That one lengthy chapter does what the rest of the collection fails to do, bring together a community of artists and patrons, describe their vision and their struggles for acceptance, and demonstrate why it mattered to the greater culture. Stieglitz is mostly remembered today for his astonishing photography, but his role as a promoter and champion of the modernist vision was a far more lasting achievement. Dan Steffan's contribution here is the one standout piece of this collection and deserves wider notice.
All told, I liked this collection, but am not impressed with it. There was considerable potential for something greater, which was why I picked it up. Had the editors insisted upon a threading of influences, a more rigorous definition of the term 'bohemian', or the addition of any arching narrative to the collection, then this volume would have cohered. As published though, this is a rather random route through a century of nominal free spirits, many of which have a mayfly existence and no evident lasting influence. This radical underselling of the importance of these people, the general lack of curation, and the overall failure to impart a sense of importance or legacy is the largest part of my disappointment in this book.

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

An anthology of stories about the many flavors of "bohemians" in the United States, from the late 19th century through the 1950s. Some people (Josephine Baker) and phenomena (the Greenwich Village community) will be familiar to most people, but others will not. I like dose art styles more than others, and the same for the stories, but most were wonderfully rendered in both art and words. African-American and Jewish bohemians are generously represented, as are (huzzah!) women, as well as the varied sexual orientations of many bohemians.

The Walt Whitman segments were in an appropriate quasi-woodcut style, Josephine Baker's story was illustrated in dramatic style, and "Katherine and Pearl," about two African-American dancers I'd barely heard of, are portrayed with a mix of styles (including imitations of photographs) with many flavors of gracefulness in dance portrayals.

For those interested in both social history (especially the arts) and stories told in graphic form. Some sexuality and nudity portrayed visually and through words--beyond PG-13 movies, sort of a "soft R".

[David Lester · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent overview of the unconventional, radical lives of artists and their supporters by Paul Buhle and David Berger. It is an area that interests me and that I have a certain amount of knowledge of, yet I still learned a lot.

[Nikki in Niagara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bohemian as defined by the Oxford dictionary: "a socially unconventional person, especially one who is involved in the arts". This is a non-fiction graphic anthology that tells the history of "bohemianism" from the 1840s to the 1950s/early 60s stopping just prior to the "Beat Generation". Each chapter is written and/or illustrated by a different author/artist making for a varied reading experience. The book is hard for me to rate as I will relate. However, I did enjoy the book very much as an historical and biographical text of a certain type of artist during this time period. I'm well-read in Victorian and pre-WWII history so found the first part of this book familiar territory for me and mostly what I had expected from the book. Stories of the artistic type (writers, dancers, artists, poets, etc and those who supported them) that defies social conventions, gathers in salons, talks about current events with disapproval, is involved in scandal, lives without moderation and is sexually promiscuous. The book concentrates on the American scene and in this part of the book we are first introduced to Bohemian origins in artisan Paris, then move to the New World with Julia Branch, Ada Clare, Walt Whitman, Victorian suffragists with artistic bents, Gertrude Stein et al. and Oscar Wilde. This is all in keeping with the subject of the book and the Bohemian becomes recognized as someone who agonizes and suffers over their art, is sexually permissive and deviant mostly involving multiple lovers of either sex, adultery and sexual relations outside of marriage. It is also quite plain from the beginning of the text that the author is very left wing as he blatantly speaks as though being anti-Communist is a *bad* thing (?!) It is then at this point where I found the book frustrating, though I still enjoyed the material, found the historical information interesting and learned a lot of new things personally. However, the editors seem to have lost touch with the topic as the next section is all about Communists and Communist sympathizers who were artists. Does being an ultra left-wing artist make you Bohemian? Then the last part of the book is about African-American artists (mostly musicians and dancers) who of course were engaged in the Civil Rights movement. Was it socially unconventional for a black person to be fighting for civil rights? I would suggest not. I expected to find Josephine Baker here, rightly so, but Bessie Smith, Louis Armstrong, Dizzy Gillespie, Langston Hughes? So two of them were either bi. or *may* have been gay; they didn't lead flamboyant, promiscuous lifestyles. Does simply being black, an artist and possibly a closeted gay make you Bohemian. Again, referring back to Oxford's definition I think not. So in the end, I enjoyed the book as a strangely unconnected history. The information was entertaining and interesting; the comic art was well done and I knew several of the illustrators involved (Milton Knight, Lance Tooks, Matt Howarth, etc) but the editors failed to provide a clear understanding of Bohemians and prove it with specific examples.

[Online Eccentric Librarian · Rating 3 out of 5]

More reviews (and no fluff) on the blog http://surrealtalvi.wordpress.com/

Bohemians is a thoroughly researched history tome masquerading as a graphic novel. What would otherwise be a clever way to give a very complete history of the movement is instead somewhat muddled by the variety of different styles and heavy verbiage crowding all the illustrations. So while I greatly appreciated what the author was doing here, using a historically subversive art form (e.g., the political cartoon) to tell a story of 'subversives', I found the book a bit of a chore to troll through in order to get the unique perspective of the bohemian societies in America.

The book begins with a written preface about the origins of the term bohemians and some common misunderstandings about what it entails. The author is careful to note that this is the story of American bohemians, from the 1850s to modern times. Then we have a chapter by chapter introduction and the illustrations of the figures of the era and what was happening around them. Many different art styles are involved - from 4 panel, to single page illustrations, to full comic book panels. Each one is unique and well done but honestly very burdened by the information they have to impart. I didn't find a lot of the stories very interesting - we're talking mostly vignettes (e.g., Oscar Wilde in America).

Because a lot of the meat of the book is informative text, not dialogue, the book feels very busy and crowded. I found myself squinting quite a bit and conflicted - I wanted to enjoy the illustrations and the words but they were fighting each other. Often, in order to make a point, one illustration might just be a nurse saying, "Veneral disease was common.....blah blah" like a text book. It just seemed a waste of space to have both a bland picture crowding a bland fact. I imagine the author wished to present each era uniquely - and so having different artists each time would give each chapter a unique flair. But it just came off as disjointed for me - taking away from my enjoyment.

I think this is a great idea and is definitely NOT a shallow treatment of the subject. I was very impressed with the depth and breadth of the information presented. For those interested in the subject, this is definitely a 5 star book. But I feel for everyone else, it might be a bit of a troll to get through the crowded pages. I would have greatly preferred the info dumps to be done in the chapter prefaces for a couple of pages and then the illustrations/graphic work to be done afterward, highlighting special moments from the era and separating out the history text book items.

Received as an ARC from the publisher

[Wayne McCoy · Rating 4 out of 5]

'Bohemians' sets out to give a history of primarily American Bohemians from around 1840 to the early 1960s. Using a variety of different artists to tell the stories of a variety of different artists and personalities. It works fairly well.

It covers a lot of ground over it's 240 pages. From early utopias centered around free love to Walt Whitman. Along the way there Jewish branches of Bohemianism and Oscar Wilde are covered. Modern art in America with Stieglitz and the Harlem Renaissance. Josephine Baker and Bebop jazz. My favorite was a 55 panel story of Woody Guthrie which featured one panel for every year of his life. It finishes with a look back by Harvey Pekar and Robert Crumb that seems to fit perfectly.

There are a variety of art styles and I liked some more than others. Most seemed suited for the stories they were telling. Some of the art in my review copy looked photocopied, and was hard to read, so I hope that got corrected in the final version. All in all a great way to tell the story of an interesting movement.

I was given a review copy of this graphic novel by Verso Books and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.

[Rachel · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book was about the history and culture of the people considered to be revolutionary in some way at the end of the 19th Century - early 20th Century. The book introduced me to a whole new group of people I’d like to learn more about, like Victoria Woodhull. Although I found the topic very interesting, it was hard to read. Not because of the subject matter (that was very well-researched) but because the text and graphics were so tiny. I thought maybe it was just the size of my Kindle, but I downloaded the book on my laptop as well to see if that improved the size, but it was the same exact size. I was not able to make it any bigger. I was straining my eyes to read each comic, which made me lose interest in it very quickly, and as a result only read about 30 percent. I hope the comics will be bigger in the paper format. I am not able to accurately rate it based on these conditions, but if the comics were enlarged and I could actually finish the book, I would probably give it 4 stars. As it is, I give it 2 stars.

Disclaimer: I received this book via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

[Mandy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have to admit that this is not really my sort of book. I don’t enjoy reading graphic novels on the whole, but the subject matter of this one interested me, and certainly it has much to recommend it. From a number of writers and illustrators, it tells the story of “bohemians” from the 1850s to the 1960s, taking in key figures as Walt Whitman and Josephine Baker, and places such as Greenwich Village. It’s an amusing and informative glimpse into the world of musicians, artists and literary figures whose spirits ran counter to the mainstream. However, the author has used the term “bohemian” very loosely, and included people whom I would not consider to be so. Oscar Wilde, Woody Guthrie, Louis Armstrong – these are not figures that to me exemplify a bohemian lifestyle. Just being a poet or musician doesn’t automatically make you a bohemian. However, maybe this is being unnecessarily pedantic, and this “graphic anthology” is both original and unusual and well worth a look at.

[Kris (My Novelesque Life) · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 STARS

(I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review).

"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." (From Amazon)

It took me a while to get through this book but it was interesting look at the brief history of bohemians.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

A sort of follow-up to the Beats history centered around Pekar & Pistor, this goes broader in subject and execution. Even if you have heard of some of these "Bohemians" (a criteria for whom is slippery at best, but often involves the pursuit of greater liberty for women and people of color) there is a lot of names to enlighten you about struggles you benefit from even if you do not know the name of some of the courageous combatants. Such an enterprise must still be selective and the subjects are considered in cursory fashion so as to pique interest.
Even more significant is the breadth of the contributors. I count 10 of 22 contributors are women. There is a great diversity in the artwork employed to tell these stories, and a greater introduction to talent deserving wider recognition does not come along often. Browse and pursue, browse & pursue.

[Art · Rating 2 out of 5]

Two and a half stars. About thirty pieces here by a couple dozen storytellers and comic graphic artists tracing bohemianism from 1850s Paris to the early '60s. This is a publishing successor to The Beats, published seven years ago. Maybe, in a few years, these people will produce a similar book, Hippies, which would make the third in a series of books about the counterculture and one that I might enjoy more than Bohemians. Although interesting in parts, this book includes too many obscure figures.

Until reading this book, I considered bohemianism as a soft and friendly term that more or less described writers and artists out of mainstream society. Politically, this book tilts to the extreme left.

[Laura Henson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had a passing familiarity with the bohemian icons profiled in this graphic history and often found the information enticed me to want to read more. However, since the sections were designed and produced in different styles, it was sometimes difficult to follow the organization of the panels, and once or twice the lettering worked against understanding. I was probably most disappointed in sections about people I had not previously heard of, whether that was because I lacked the background knowledge or the writer/artist's style worked against me would require a bit more introspection. Still worth the time as either a graphic text or for the reminders of how the bohemian can have profound influence on society.

[Stewart Tame · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting book. As with many anthologies, some stories are better than others. Marcel Duchamp has long been one of my favorite artists, so the bio piece about him was quite enjoyable (though nothing about his last work? Really?) I also enjoyed the final story in the book, though it's weird seeing Harvey Pekar in a story he didn't write himself. All in all, this is a fine book, with, hopefully, something to please everyone.

[Yunita · Rating 5 out of 5]

I rarely read non fiction graphic novel but i'll make an exception for this one.

Josephine Baker, Walt Whitman, Langston Hughes, Thelonious Monk, Gertrude Stein & Marcel Duchamp in one book.

Civil Rights, Women Rights, Greenwich Village, Dance, Literature & Dadaism in one book.

This book is an introduction to the first "Rebels".

[Stef · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read the book about the Beats and first and was expecting more of the same with the Bohemians, but this book was chaotic in both art and story. Difficult to follow, bouncing all over the place, abrupt ends, a lot of sentences crammed with names and places and little else -- I abandoned this early on.

[Robin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wish I had time to finish this. Fascinating subject, moves along well, and the different artists are a treat to discover. The transitions between the pieces can be a bit abrupt and it isn't a light read, but overall very well done. Recommended for fans of nonfiction graphic novels.

[Jenni Schell · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I found the content interesting, the book itself was quite hard to read. The graphics were very small making it difficult to see exactly what they were saying. That said, I did learn some things about some people that I didn't know. That in itself makes this worthy of reading.

[lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I learned SO much from these stories, not just about the people I had never heard of, but also the ones who were already my heroes. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in history, or graphic novels. I can see this being a big hit at the library with people of all ages.

[Kim Heimbuch · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review has been written and will post here after it posts to its original Review destination.

[Sarah Sammis · Rating 2 out of 5]

http://pussreboots.pair.com/blog/2016...

[Jenn · Rating 4 out of 5]

A strong compilation, with only a few weak pieces. Some stunning artwork and inspiring stories.

[HJ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very dense, sometimes hard to get through. Because different writers/artists some chapters are more enjoyable than others, but still great to learn so much. Overall very enjoyably informative.

[Karol K · Rating 4 out of 5]

Highly recommend. Entertaining, educational, fun read.

[MichaelK · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some of the comics in this anthology are great, but too many seem to come from the 'Illustrated Wikipedia Summary' School of Non-Fiction Comics, lacking narrative drive. Most of the best parts of are loaded into the first third or half, which drew me in enough to keep going. If you'd asked me how good this book was when I was about 50-pages in, I would have said I expected to rate it 4 stars. Later I found it such a drag to read - I almost gave up a few times despite being over half, or two thirds, of the way through. I'm glad I did persist, because the penultimate chapter was about Bernard Wolfe, author of Limbo, and it was a pleasant surprise to learn a bit more about a novel and author in my to-read pile. However, overall I do not recommend this book because, despite some strong pieces, the whole is let down by its weaker parts.

[John Mihelic · Rating 3 out of 5]

Verso was running a sale on their site, so I went ahead and bought this due to my love both of Bohemians and Graphic novels. Overall, it was an interesting book, with biographical info about some people I was familiar with and people I learned about for the first time. The only issue is that there is an unevenness to each of the stories in terms of quality of the art and the research that went into the story. For example, there is an example where the cartoonist is showing the Panama Canal (P. 11) - in a story that takes place prior to the digging of the canal. Little things like that in a book about history make you wonder what is wrong about what you don’t know. That said, the extended piece on Woody Guthrie makes it worth it for me.

[Dylan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quotes:

They disregarded existing laws, especially those connecting love and marriage.

Bohemians emerged as an individual or group identity contrary to the hard-working, if triumphant, bourgeoisie, dull of taste or imagination but large of bankbook.

Bohemia itself is supposed to have disappeared, at least several times, as high rents came to formerly low-rent neighborhoods where its denizens dwelled. Yet somehow it persists, or rather irregularly reappears. Not only in the US or Europe of course, but by now, almost everywhere.

[George Ilsley · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wanted to like this more than I was able to. It is an anthology so the quality varies -- widely. Some pieces tell a story while others just illustrate a couple of highlights and call it a day. The Josephine Baker piece looked interesting but the lettering was so tiny it was hard to read. Other text-heavy pieces also had to be skipped because an "effort/reward" analysis did not indicate a payoff. However if you know very little about the amorphous arbitrary grouping here collected as "Bohemians" this anthology could be a decent introduction.

[lara phillips · Rating 4 out of 5]

great comics anthology. good for reading in short bursts as well.