October 2005
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"I see it as a validation that’s not without its problematic side. Comics is a self-described lowly medium, and it’s been up until recently been considered lowly by other people. There’s a feeling, especially among underground and alternative cartoonists, that comics should remain lowly so that it remains under the cultural radar and thus stays more authentic. You see the same feeling with punk rock -- the more despised we are, the better."
by
Daniel Nester
Parks has been a fan of Truman Capote since he was a kid and also remembers reading him first in high school. He has always been fascinated by the idea of Capote coming from New York City to small town Kansas (which in 1959 would have seemed like traveling between distant galaxies) and yet finding a way for the locals to trust him. “I never got that out of my head,” writes Parks in a recent e-mail, “and it was something I naturally wanted to explore as I began to consider writing historical fiction graphic novels.”
by
Colleen Mondor
It turned into a story about a grieving mother who spends months shooting at the sharks that killed her boy in the bay. Finally, her friends convince her to take part in a “forgiveness ceremony” during which a pseudo-religious figure asks the sharks for forgiveness – while standing in the water. "Well, you see where this going," he chortled. "Forgiveness has to come from both sides."
by
Clayton Moore
Inspired by the annual San Gennaro festival of recent celebration and my mezzo-Italiano heritage, this month’s Judging intends to put a little mambo Italiano in your step.
by
Melissa Fischer
“I hope people will recognize how original she was,” said Jane Marcus, author of Virginia Woolf and the Languages of Patriarchy. “Ruth’s book is a feminist interpretation of Woolf well before my group of feminists started reviving her in the seventies and eighties. But Ruth’s work was never listed in any of the bibliographies I saw in any library and we did serious research. If we had this book to jump off from that would have saved us ten years of work. We could have just quoted Ruth.”
by
Abigail Pickus
On a trip to my local Borders Books and Music store in Portland, Oregon, I once saw, in the fiction section, some text that deserves comment. On the edges of these shelves upon which the books sat, facing those of us browsing the books, were comments printed in a classy computer font which provided what I could only believe were inducements to explore particular authors further, to pull books off the shelf and look into some writer, lured by the fascinating detail, the advertisement for that author. These comments included "Mann neither labored nor committed uxoricide."
by
Doyle Wesley Walls
Barbie is finally getting her comeuppance for being the saucy sex-fiend that I, for one, always knew she was. Now, more legitimate sources are confirming my amateur hypothesis. According to Sharon Lamb’s The Secret Lives of Girls, Barbie’s been dry humping Ken and even dabbled in some soft-core S&M for years now.
by
Melissa Fischer
Why and when did music evolve? Why is music of all kinds capable of stirring our emotions, transporting us into our past after a few chords? Minor, but not unrelated: Why some days, rifling through my CDs, do I pass Vivaldi, Satie, even Springsteen, in a craving for (wait for it….) Hall and Oates? Yes, some fortunate persons’ memories are triggered by the taste of madeleines, whereas others’ get saddled with Hall and Oates songs.
by
Barbara J. King
"What's most interesting however, is that the offering of whiskey tells us more about the human realm than the spirit realm. What I mean is that, in a very poor country, whiskey is not sitting on the average person's shelf -- it's an expensive and rare commodity. So, when a Cambodian or Laotian puts a shot-glass of booze in their little spirit-house shrine, it represents a serious offering. It represents a sincere intent and a real sacrifice."
by
Bryan Miller
