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remlezar's review against another edition
2.0
I love Harvey Pekar, but I just couldn't get into this book. The subject is a giant prick who is convinced Ayn Rand is the answer to all the worlds problems. It wouldn't be so bad if the guy wasn't constantly treating every other human being alive like they were mentally handicapped trash dwellers. I couldn't finish this book, even from the perspective of it being a portrait of a douchebag. The art is nice enough, and Pekar's writing is solid as always, but gah. Reading about this guy just made me angry.
chadstep's review against another edition
3.0
I'm happy enough with Pekar's character study and Malice's story is almost unwieldy in its fantastical collection of details of his ego and hubris but it went on too long for my interests. Each story means to build complexity (and empathy?) for Malice but he seems to come off as someone possibly undiagnosed with delusions of grandure which makes him more of a spectacle to behold rather than care about. Pekar does justice to him if his story's nonsequitors reflect the actual person but it can be hard to follow at times.
mkat303's review against another edition
3.0
Well, I know I wouldn't like Michael Malice, but I really enjoyed this book about him. Have to say the first part was better -- got a bit bored near the end, though.
mgerboc's review
1.0
Hard to write a bad review about Pekar, one of my favorite writers and people, but what makes Pekar great, is that underneath the curmudgeonly exterior, there's a real human warmth. This is something that Michael Malice lacks completely. In addition to that, every anecdote is about how he's smarter and more moral and better than everyone around him. I honestly kept reading because I though there would be some fundamental change, but there wasn't. The end is a quote from Ayn Rand. The book was insufferable.
meepelous's review
3.0
While the subject of this comic book was too far up his own ass to really be considered interesting, the book itself serves a wide variety of purposes rather well. Even if more than a few of these purposes go well outside the author's original intent. While it did not come as a shock that the rather prickly Pekar would find Malice worth an entire volume of his time, my own personal experience renders this special snowflake of a Randian Libertarian the absolutely worst kind of person. But since Pekar obviously likes him, it is an interesting exercise in how everything can be basically true and above board and two people can have wildly different perspectives on it - something I think a lot of us likely miss in the modern world lol.
The ending, in particular, seemed rather contrived by either Pekar or Malice to show that Malice's ego/hubris had finally paid off. He finally gets to prove himself! But while I can appreciate that real life stories are a lot messier than fiction, I still really don't buy it. I'm sure he's being paid a lot more than me, but working in casting for a reality tv show (along with the other things listed on his Wikipedia page) don't actually strike me as things I perceive (even in my most capitalist moments) to be all that successful, and I don't feel like the Malice I got to know would really be all that excited about. Except of course that apparently these bosses finally really appreciate him, which I can see going a long way for anyone.
I was also pretty interested in all the ways that I could, in fact, sympathise with Malice, especially in his earlier years. A lot of the problems he sees in larger society and with bosses, in particular, are actual problems - at least in my humble opinion - but the striking difference between us is our reaction to these problems. While it certainly takes more energy to care about other people, there really is nothing particularly inspiring about how selfish Malice proves himself throughout this book. Rather than strive to actually solve the problems he faces, Malice's short-sighted focus barely manages to improve his own life let alone anyone else's.
I would also like to note that Malice seems to go out of his way to be particularly harsh to women.
The artwork in this book is good and overall the writing is also extremely well done. This is the first Pekar I have read in a while and it certainly proved thought provoking.
The ending, in particular, seemed rather contrived by either Pekar or Malice to show that Malice's ego/hubris had finally paid off. He finally gets to prove himself! But while I can appreciate that real life stories are a lot messier than fiction, I still really don't buy it. I'm sure he's being paid a lot more than me, but working in casting for a reality tv show (along with the other things listed on his Wikipedia page) don't actually strike me as things I perceive (even in my most capitalist moments) to be all that successful, and I don't feel like the Malice I got to know would really be all that excited about. Except of course that apparently these bosses finally really appreciate him, which I can see going a long way for anyone.
I was also pretty interested in all the ways that I could, in fact, sympathise with Malice, especially in his earlier years. A lot of the problems he sees in larger society and with bosses, in particular, are actual problems - at least in my humble opinion - but the striking difference between us is our reaction to these problems. While it certainly takes more energy to care about other people, there really is nothing particularly inspiring about how selfish Malice proves himself throughout this book. Rather than strive to actually solve the problems he faces, Malice's short-sighted focus barely manages to improve his own life let alone anyone else's.
I would also like to note that Malice seems to go out of his way to be particularly harsh to women.
The artwork in this book is good and overall the writing is also extremely well done. This is the first Pekar I have read in a while and it certainly proved thought provoking.
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