Book Review: Backing Into Forward

Jules Feiffer’s memoir Backing into Forward is the story of a young Jewish boy in New York who is able to harness his storytelling and illustrating talent in order to produce some of the best comics from the1940s to the present. Before he was ever published, or even entered high school, he used his drawing skills to help survive and find a place for himself. Despite the fact that he was not a jock, he was still able to gain the acceptance of the popular crowd through his illustrations. The popular boys and girls would come to Jules and ask for drawings of teachers, sports stars, and celebrities. Even at this age, people noticed his extraordinary talent. Perhaps, he got his talent from his mother who made fashion sketches the sale of which helped keep the family afloat during hard economic times. Feiffer’s sister also played a part in his intellectual development. Four years his senior, Mimi befriended many liberal students of the time who brought radical ideas into the Feiffer household. Even more important, Mimi’s progressive friends were interested in Feiffer’s comics and saw his potential though he was barely 13 years old.

At the age of 16, Feiffer secured an internship working for the comic/graphic novel legend Will Eisner. Eisner, and others in his studio, taught Feiffer as much about growing a tough skin as about writing comics. Feiffer eventually left Eisner’s studio in order to follow his girlfriend across the country to Berkley, California in a journey reminiscent of On the Road. In 1951, Feiffer was drafted into the army where he faked a mental breakdown and thought that he was going insane. Though he had some of the worst experiences of his life while in the service, it was during this time that he came up with the idea for his comic Munro. The years from his adolescences to his discharge from the army was the formative time in his life that truly made him an artist. During this time, he found his voice and personality which his work clearly exudes. After his time in the military, Feiffer moved to Greenwich Village were all of the action was during that time. He rubbed noses with journalists, comedians, singers, intellectuals, and artists. The rest of his story follows that of the American Dream in which he became famous, married, settled down and started a family.

I enjoyed parts of Feiffer’s memoir a great deal but cannot say that I was overall impressed. At 440 pages, I felt that his memoir was far too long. Though Feiffer led an incredibly interesting life and has a great story to tell, it could be cut down by at least 100 pages. His time hitch-hiking across the country is by far my favorite part of the book because it has the most color and personality. The chapters in which he describes working for Eisner are also interesting. Perhaps it is because I am a huge Eisner fan, but I found Feiffer’s views and experiences with Eisner to be quite telling about both men. Though Feiffer’s young adult life as a Jew in New York was interesting, it was a tale that I have heard hundreds of times before in various other novels and memoirs. There is no denying that Feiffer’s humor makes the memoir readable and livens up some of the dull chapters. However, his memoir still lagged at points that not even his humor could save. What sets this work apart from other memoirs, is that Feiffer has included some of his comics and interspersed them throughout the book. Therefore, the reader can see how his technique has changed and matured over time. This is extremely helpful in understanding his growth as an artist.

Overall, I would only recommend this memoir to die-hard graphic novel and/or Feiffer fans. Today, readers expect a great deal from someone’s memoir. The market has been bombarded with memoirs of all kinds that chronicle everything from a person’s spiritual enlightenment, to a year of reading the encyclopedia, to graphic/comic book memoirs. While Feiffer’s memoir might have won rave reviews a couple of years ago, there is nothing astonishing about it that would set it apart from the already excessive amount of literature published in this genre.

(Note this book is not on sale until March 16th)

-DLP