From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. Pekar's work, memorialized in the movie American Splendor, is an ongoing chronicle of his life in all its quotidian glory. Until now, he's only written nonfiction vignettes of his life as a jazz-loving slacker. The strength of Pekar's work is in his depiction of moments, but you have to read a great deal of it to understand the overall arc. This autobiographical full-length comic amends that problem, providing the missing overview: a searingly honest memoir of a smart but troubled boy who depends on quitting any time he might fail—a strategy that eventually leads to a near-nervous breakdown after he joins the navy. But Pekar doesn't dwell on his anxiety with the look-at-me tantrums of Philip Roth or Woody Allen—he's not that indulgent. Pekar's frequent artistic collaborator Haspiel provides the square-jawed, nebbishy characters, drawn with a fat, '60s line, giving a sharp-edged sense of the frustration and tension of an immigrant midcentury boyhood. This book is full of the deeply flawed but sympathetic characters that populate Pekar's work: his hard-working but oblivious parents, an overrated tough guy Pekar beats up, the jazz writer who gives him an outlet away from being a street tough. Pekar's work dignifies the struggle of the average man, and this book shows how that dignity is earned. (Oct.)

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From School Library Journal

Grade 9 Up–Ever since the release of the movie American Splendor, Pekar has become widely known and regarded as a writer of autobiographical graphic novels. What keeps his writing interesting is that he not only continues to take new approaches in examining his own life, but he also collaborates with different artists. Here, he focuses on his childhood and young adult years. Teens will find much to empathize with, from his sense of alienation as a young Jewish boy in an increasingly African-American neighborhood to his struggle to find his place in the world. Pekar is his own worst enemy, finding discouragement in anything less than stunning success, berating himself, and quitting when things dont go exactly as he plans. That he eventually does make a name for himself, though it is an uneasy success, is a realistic message of encouragement that teens may find comforting. The Quitter is suggested for mature audiences, but there is very little to offend. The book itself is well designed, with a bold, eye-catching jacket and excellent black-and-white illustrations.–Dawn Rutherford, King County Library System, Bellevue, WA

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