Side Quest: Every Book I Read in my 29th Year pt. 4

The hits keep coming

Blecky Yuckerella Vol. 1-4 by Johnny Ryan

Where I got it: East Village Books

Blecky Yuckerella is Johnny Ryan’s grotesque parody of Nancy era comic strips. If you know anything about Johnny Ryan, you know offensive is the name of the game, with no bodily fluid or orifice off limits. These 4 panel Blecky strips originally appeared in edgy alternative weeklies (we still have those right?) and online. I had so much dumb evil fun reading these books which I snagged for a steal used at East Village Books.

One! Hundred! Demons! by Lynda Barry

Where i got it: eBay 

My first Lynda Barry book lived up to the hype! Lynda Barry intersperses hilarious yet devastating autobiographicalish vignettes with dazzling colorful collages. Barry’s work especially shines when relaying tales of adolescence. Few authors capture the awkwardness, the longing, the cruelty of teenage years like Barry does. Even though Barry grew up decades before me in a far less sheltered suburban neighborhood than I did, reading her transports me back to every good and bad feeling I had at age 15.

The Gift: Poems by Hafiz

Where I got it: Allie moving to MN book purge

This is officially the book that converted me from “not a poetry guy” to “a poetry guy.” This collection from Sufi poet Hafiz is so fun, so fresh, so vibrant you would never guess that it was written in the 1300s. Hafiz infects readers with joy— the poems are bursting with humor, sexuality, and whimsy. Most poems are love letters to God. Daniel Ladinsky’s translations make these poems highly accessible to modern readers. Did I mention they’re sexy? I’ll share a quick one of my favorites here:

A Potent Lover 

The sun and the moon shiver

When I drop my pants

Beware

Of this potent

Lover.

Madman: Library Edition by Mike & Laura Allred

Where I got it: uhhh internet?

Husband & wife team Mike and Laura Allred make comics exploding with pop art vibrancy. Mike creates the stories and draws them, Laura infuses them with dynamic colors. This gorgeous compilation serves as an omnibus for Madman, Mike Allred’s absurd and often existential love letter to comic superheroes of the silver age. Madman (aka Frank Einstein) is perpetually goofy and immature, searching for his past self while battling all kinds of robots and aliens with yo-yos and disc guns. The two volumes of the library edition feature the main arc Madman, whose story unfolds richly and beautifully, as well as side stories and guest drawn one-offs. Madman represents the best of comics: the youthful whimsy and the infinite possibilities of the imagination expressed through irresistible, dynamic art. 

Spider-Man: Life Story by Chip Zdarsky

Where I got it: uhhh internet?

Superheroes— they never really age. While the world around them changes, guys like Batman and Superman are still happily punching things 80 years into their runs. The ever brilliant Chip Zdarsky set out to subvert this trope of comics with Spider-Man: Life Story, a revisioning of Peter Parker who ages in real time, starting from his origin as a teenager in the 1960s. Each of the 5 issue covers a decade of Spider-Man’s life up to the 2010s. While I loved the premise, I didn’t love actually reading this comic. The art is fairly generic Marvel style and the story veers into soap opera. All this said, Chip Zdarsky has the greatest substack of all time.

Kaleidoscope City by Marcellus Hall

Where I got it: My roommate gave it to me

Kaleidoscope City is a graphic novel that tells the story of the narrator’s emotional struggle after a breakup against the backdrop of New York City. The simple black and white illustrations flow like jazz on the page with dreamlike movement. It’s a quick read but one that’s sure to touch the soul of anyone who loves NYC.

Quite Early One Morning by Dylan Thomas

Where I got it: Westsider

Okay, why did nobody tell me Dylan Thomas was hilarious? This collection of short stories, poems, and essays had me laughing out loud several times on the subway. Thomas’s voice lilts through this collection, never hesitating to add in a strange detail or observation. His recollections of his childhood in Wales are at times melancholy, at times mystical, and written with a high degree of craft. The essays in this book are interesting as well, including Thomas’s survey of the history of Welsh poets.

Absolutely on Music: Conversations with Seiji Ozawa

Where I got it: Shakespeare & Co.

I will 100 percent admit I bought this book because I saw the movie Tar and thought damn, I need to learn more about classical music. Murakami’s lovingly rendered conversions with veteran composer Ozawa are a far deeper dive than I had anticipated, but they provided me quite the roadmap for future listening adventures. My favorite part of this book was Murakami’s travelog from observing Ozawa’s International Academy in Switzerland, observing young musicians develop under the tutelage of masters. 

Beyond Discipline by Alfie Kohn

Where I got it: my aunt was getting rid of this

This is an education book I read for pleasure, not homework. In this book, Kohn explores discipline how it exists in modern schools, noting how commonly used practices of punishment actually reinforce the behaviors they aim to address. Kohn passionately advocates for approaches that encourage students to develop intrinsic motivation that will serve them in the long run. I enjoyed this book but struggled to apply it to my work as a teacher with students on the Autism spectrum, students who may not yet have the cognitive or emotional tools for the approach Kohn describes.

The Maxx by Sam Kieth

Where I got it: uhh internet 

The Maxx is a boundary pushing comic from the 1990s with an unique vision for storytelling in the comics medium. The story of the Maxx is at times confounding, with many reveals and revisions. Is the Maxx a superhero? A homeless guy? A rabbit totem from a mind dimension? All three and more??? The art on this comic is ambitiously strange and never afraid to buck conventions of panel structure, lettering or character design. Ultimately, The Maxx is a story about trauma, and the coping strategies we develop to overcome it. It’s one of the strangest journeys comics has ever taken me on, but I’m glad I went along for the ride.

Attack Surface by Cory Doctorow

Where I got it: the good ol’ NYPL

Doctorow’s book is listed as science fiction, but the terrifying part is that everything in this book could easily happen in real life. Part Mr. Robot, part Edward Snowden, this book follows hacker for hire Masha from the right side to the wrong side of shady tech security firms as she’s caught up in a high school friend’s activist group under surveillance from the San Francisco police and their amoral contractors. While this book often veers into jargonland, there are some utterly electrifying sequences. Hacked self-driving cars deployed to run over street protestors? That was pretty intense. This book will make you want to check your privacy settings and change all your passwords.

I read EVEN more books than this! See you soon for part 5!