Copyright © 2009
by Jeffrey Koterba
Harper Perennial
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When Jeffrey Koterba was six, he started drawing his first cartoons, painstakingly copying from the Sunday Omaha World Herald’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 comfortable—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 never seemed to come true, Art was subject to violent facial and vocal tics—symptoms of Tourette’s Syndrome, a condition
Jeffrey inherited—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 much to his surprise, he found himself on a journey 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. — from the publisher
In this honest memoir, Koterba, nationally syndicated political cartoonist and jazz musician, depicts a childhood burdened with both Tourette's syndrome and an
eccentric, overbearing father. ... Koterba renders
scenes of family dysfunction with an artist's feeling for nuance and detail. — Publishers Weekly
Koterba showcases his hidden literary talent with writing that is nostalgic without being sentimental. Author events in Omaha, Neb., Iowa
City, Seattle. Agent: Amy Moore-Benson/AMB Literary Management
Kirkus Reviews
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