Bedtime Stories includes six short tales based on Pekar's real-life experiences, as well as a two-page illustrated biography of the great blues musician T-Bone Walker. Pekar, who was 33 when he began his documentary comics project in 1976, has since documented much of his life for his dedicated cadre of fans, including his struggle with cancer ten years ago. Now, at the age of 60, Pekar is dealing with increasingly difficult issues such as retirement and flagging health, as well as the recent adoption of a 12-year old foster daughter. Through it all, Pekar maintains a sharp wit and offers intelligent commentary on this phase of his life, while continuing his observations of life, politics, and culture in the US.
"I'm not only documenting my life in these stories," said Pekar. "I'm putting in my opinions, and I think I'm documenting my times. It's what I know about. Everybody can only write from their own point of view. If they write about fictional characters, it's still their own point of view. I just like to cut the middle man out as much as possible. And in my comics, I write about a lot of this stuff to let other people feel that everyone is kind of interesting and important."
Read American Splendor: Bedtime stories, featuring art by Joe Sacco, Frank Stack, Dean Haspiel, and others. It's available June 7 from your local comics retailer.