Synopses & Reviews
"Inklings is fresh and powerful. A truly new voice has arrived on the scene."--Mary Pipher, author of Seeking Peace
"This is the opposite of a sentimental survivor memoir. Koterba pays tribute to the raw materials of his childhood with an unerring eye and shows us how to make art, not in spite of adversity, but because of it."--Richard Dooling, author of White Man's Grave
"Koterba takes us on a journey of discovery that changes our perceptions about survival and artistic creation. Told with elegant simplicity, this memoir documents the passion of a boy who will not surrender his obsession, whose brilliance develops wit and cunning and fire to shield his sensitivity to the world around him."--Jonis Agee, author of The River Wife
"Koterba writes with charm, warmth, and honesty, creating a portrait of the artist that is both rich with nostalgia and haunted by family battles."--Timothy Schaffert, author of Devils in the Sugar Shop
"Cartoonists have had at least as much influence on the survival of our democracy as those who pen thousands of words. This book tells how one of the best came to risk the ire of people like me who needed someone to tell us how we really look."--Bob Kerrey, President of the New School, former US Senator and Governor of Nebraska
"Editorial Cartoonist Jeff Koterba turns his observational talent inward to produce a deeply engaging and truly heartwarming memoir. Read this book and feel good!"--Jimmy Margulies, Editorial Cartoonist for The Record and King Features
Review
"This is the opposite of a sentimental survivor memoir. Koterba pays tribute to the raw materials of his childhood with an unerring eye and shows us how to make art, not in spite of adversity, but because of it."
Review
"
Inklings is fresh and powerful. A truly new voice has arrived on the scene."--
Review
"A powerful and moving portrait of an artist." --Tina Jordan, Entertainment Weekly
Synopsis
At age six, Jeffrey Koterbaand#160;began drawing cartoons, creating with ink and white paper a clean, expansive refuge from the pandemonium surrounding him.and#160;The Koterba household wasand#160;filled floor-to-ceiling withand#160;second-handand#160;TVsand#160;and garage-sale treasures his father, Art, fixed and sold for extra money. A hard-drinkingand#160;ex-jazz drummer whose big dreams neverand#160;panned out, Art was subject to violent facial and vocal ticsand#151;symptoms of Touretteand#8217;s Syndrome, a condition Jeffrey inheritedand#151;as well as explosions of temper and eccentricity that kept the Koterba family teetering on the brink of disaster.and#160;From the canyons of busted electronics, the lightning strikes, screaming matches, and discouragements great and small emerged a young man determined to follow his creative spirit to grand heights.and#160;And much to his surprise, he found himself on a journeyand#160;back to his family and the father he once longed to escape.
Inklings is an exuberant, heart-felt memoir infused with a uniquelyand#160;irresistible optimism.
Synopsis
Jeffrey fights his way out from beneath the shadow of his domineering father and clinging mother to follow his lifelong dream of cartooning for a livingand#8212;he is now a widely syndicated political cartoonist. A funny, heart-felt memoir depicting a family doing their best to love one another and, against long odds, succeeding.
Synopsis
When Jeffrey Koterba was six, he started drawing his first cartoons, painstakingly copying from the Sunday
Omaha World Heraldand#8217;s funny papers and making up his own characters. With a pen and a sheet of white paper, he was able to escape into a world that was clean, expansive, and comfortableand#151;a refuge from the pandemonium surrounding him.
The tiny house Koterba grew up in was full-to-bursting with garage-sale treasures and televisions his father Art repaired and sold for extra money. A hard-drinking one-time jazz drummer whose big dreams neverand#160;seemed to comeand#160;true, Art was subject to violent facial and vocal ticsand#151;symptoms of Touretteand#8217;s Syndrome, a condition Jeffrey inheritedand#151;as well as explosions of temper and eccentricity that kept the Koterba family teetering on the brink of disaster.
From the canyons of broken electronics, the lightning strikes, screaming matches, and discouragements great and small emerged a young man determined to follow his creative spirit to grand heights.and#160;And much to his surprise, he found himself on a journeyand#160;back to his family and the father he once longed to escape. An exuberant, heart-felt memoir that calls to mind The Tender Bar and Fun Home, Inklings is infused with an irresistible optimism all its own.
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About the Author
JEFFREY KOTERBA is an award-winning, syndicated political cartoonist. He is also lead singer, guitarist, and songwriter for the Prairie Cats, a swing band.
Inklings is his first book.