illusionofjoy: (Default)

My package from amazon.com arrived today. About a week ago, I burned up a couple of gift cards I'd received for the holidays on books and CDs. At the urging of my flatmate, I checked the delivery status of said package and, seeing the electronic tracking was making claims or arrival, went downstairs to find said claims to be accurate.

One of the more anticipated books in my order was The Year of Loving Dangerously, a collaboration between Ted Rall and Pablo G. Callejo. This graphic novel, set in 1984 New York City, tells of Rall's expulsion from Columbia University and his subsequent attempts to cope with that along with unemployment, homelessness and being dumped by his girlfriend. His survival tactics, while somewhat unconventional, are certainly fascinating reading. Suffice it to say that I already read it cover to cover.

So, you won't be getting an in-depth review from me. Frankly, I've decided to retire my reviewers hat, as it were...dry critical analysis in a vacuum bores me now. But I will say that I really enjoyed the book and those reviewers who have praised it are spot-on.

Maus

Jan. 5th, 2009 10:05 pm
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I've been catching up on some reading. Last night I finished both volumes of Maus, Art Spiegelman's comic book (or graphic novel, if you prefer) about his father's survival as a Polish Jew during World War II intertwined with a thread about the relationship between father and son. It's quite the compelling work, heavy on the symbolism, most obvious of course being that different races are represented by different species of animals (Jews are mice, Germans are cats, Americans are dogs, etc.). I'm not going to review it here, but I'll just say that if you haven't read it, you should.

The last time I read the book was during my first semester in college over a decade ago. It was the only semester I lived in the dorms with a roommate. He was an Indian fellow who I remember had quite an adverse reaction to the book as it was sitting on my desk.

"There's a swastika on the cover," he screamed at me, "I'm a minority, that shit freaks us out, get it out of here!"

I hid the book away and finished reading it when he wasn't around.

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Seth Warren

October 2025

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