Harvey Pekar is a Cleveland native, V.A. hospital file clerk, and hilariously grumpy observer of life's strange and unpredictable pageant. A comic book writer who writes about his everyday life as an omnivorous reader, jazz lover, obsessive-compulsive collector, and lousy housekeeper. A prickly poet of the mundane who knows that all the strategizing in the world can't save a guy from choosing the wrong supermarket checkout line. A regular Joe who pursues self-expression without self-censorship - and finds a grateful audience, critical admiration, and that most remarkable of happy endings, a loving family.