He Cuts Hog : Stories and Illustrations by Molly Harvey

A book on the works of writer, artist, and singer Molly Harvey featuring her own pen-and-ink drawings and writings including poetry, parodies, and short stories. At Virginia Commonwealth University, Harvey studied Theatre Arts and in 1994 was discovered by San Francisco's legendary unknowns, The Residents. At nearly the same time, Harvey discovered her own untutored talent for rendering highly detailed pen-and-ink portraits. From the very first drawing to leave her pen, entitled "Clive, West Virginia, 1954," it is striking how Harvey's style appeared fully formed. Her unconventional style and voice cohere throughout the nine years of work represented here. As a storyteller, Harvey is a master of subtext. Her language draws tension through its restraint, then surprises with flourishes of bawling humor. These stories tend to evoke the quiet of disaster etched into the faces she draws, or they kindle a sort of gaping smile that precedes the only sound which can answer her quiet: Laughter. For those who know Harvey's sensibility as a singer and her gestural vocabulary on stage there is a certain resonance to be found with the gesture and manner of her illustrations. That these pitiable, familiar, disgusting, and terribly funny stories reveal their basis in real lives and actual events is unmistakable.Harvey, Molly is the author of 'He Cuts Hog : Stories and Illustrations by Molly Harvey', published 2002 under ISBN 9780972545891 and ISBN 0972545891.