Books, For Reading

So here are some books I've been reading lately. Between trips to Atomic Books and ordering several little-somethings-for-myself while xmas shopping last year, I amassed quite a pile of reading material. I still haven't made it through everything. I've been kind of jumping from book to book, mostly because many of them are the kind of books you can put down and come back to later. Yeah, a lot of great bathroom reading here. There's not much fiction though, is there? Well, guess what: Fiction is so 20th Century, it's not even funny. <-- Haha.

[Click the covers for related online content.]

Vice Do's & Don'ts: 10 Years of Vice Magazine's Street Fashion Critiques
by Suroosh Alvi/Gavin McInnes/Shane Smith

The hipsters at Vice compile my favorite part of their dumb magazine into a one hilarious book. What, you don't know about the Vice Do's and Don'ts?! Basically, they take these photos of people on the streets in New York (or elsewhere) and comment on what they're wearing or what style they're trying convey. Sometimes it's funny, sometimes it's just bizarre nonsense. This one's been a big hit around the house. Perfect for the toilet!

Found
by Davy Rothbart

This book compiles the best of Found Magazine's scraps of orphaned what-have-you from across the country: lost notes, to-do lists, scribbled drawings, and photographs. The contents are often hilarious, usually at least curious, but occasionally just mundane. Overall, a fun book which offers us a rare, voyeuristic look into the unspoken (and often candid) communications of the American everyman. Speaking of voyeurism, I've also been enjoying Issue #1 of Dirty Found, a new sister magazine which focuses on only the most sordid and unsavory of found items.

Eightball #23: The Death-Ray
by Daniel Clowes

From the creator of Ghost World comes the newest in a series of oddball genius comics. This one features yet another great anti-hero, Andy, who discovers he gains incredible strength from smoking cigarettes. Cool new large format, too.


Minipops
by Craig Robinson

A book of tiny pixel portraits of famous people, including bands (indie and not), actors, film characters, and political figures. It's fun to try to guess who each one represents, but there's an index in the back in case you're stumped. Be sure to check out his site; there's lots more neat shit there.

McSweeny's Quarterly #13
edited by Chris Ware

A special issue of McSweeny's featuring comics compiled by comics genius Chris Ware (author of Jimmy Corrigan). Cool stuff from some of the big names in underground comics (e.g. Crumb, Clowes) as well as a bunch of comics from people my inexperienced comic-reading self has never heard of.

The Future Dictionary of America
by Jonathan Safran Foer (Editor), et al

Another one from McSweeny's. This was published last year to benefit progressive causes in the 2004 election. It contains creative, politcally-conscious definitions of modern buzzwords (many of which are completely made up) by over 170 writers and artists. The book also includes a 22 track CD with tracks from David Byrne, Elliot Smith, Tom Waits, the Flaming Lips, the Long Winters, and others.

33 1/3:Meat Is Murder
by Joe Pernice
33 1/3:Unknown Pleasures
by Chris Ott

These two quick reads are a part of an entire series of books, each focusing on a single great album. Both were kindly lent to me by my housemate, Tim (see this link for a further review, among others , of each of these books). The first one I read is by Joe Pernice of the Pernice Brothers and focuses on The Smiths' 1985 album (wow...almost exactly 20 years ago, today) Meat Is Murder. Pernice takes a different approach than most in the 33 1/3 series. His is a work of fiction, albeit undoubtedly heavily autobiograhical, in which he tells a tale of teenage love and budding music geekery. The story is cute, but let's just say Pernice is a much better muscian and lyricist. Chris Ott (former writer for Pitchforkmedia.com) takes much more straight forward approach with his look at Joy Division's classic first album, Unknown Pleasures. Though I find his writing here occasionally somewhat ostentatious (it reads as almost clinical at times), it offers some insight into the history of the band and their rise to cult status in the late 70s, as well as some interesting details about producer Martin Hannett's often amusing recording techniques.

Love All the People
by Bill Hicks

A posthumous collection of letters, routines, and other writings from one of America's best comics. Hicks is one of my favorites, not only as a comedian (he's was much bigger than that), but as a modern day philospher. There's lots of great material here, though I have yet to make my way through most of it (guess I've been kind of savoring this one). The foreword by John Lahr contains the profile he wrote for the New Yorker just before Hicks' untimely death in 1994. The book also includes scores of interviews and articles, letters to people like David Letterman, and bits of his stand-up transcribed from actual performances. Though perhaps not the best introduction to this lost hero (I'd recommend seeing the recently-released DVD, Bill Hicks: Live or listening to my favorite Hicks album, Rant In E-Minor, first), this book is must-have for any fan. There's really no one like Bill Hicks around these days. It's a shame—we could use him now more than ever. See also: billhicks.com and Sacred Cow Productions