Monthly Archives: July 2011
Thoughts on Jack
Vertigo just recently wrapped up its series, Jack of Fables, after fifty issues that spanned about four and a half years. It wasn’t one of the publisher’s attention-grabbing comics like 100 Bullets, Y, The Last Man, and even Fables, but … Continue reading
Mediocre Witches
Yesterday I finished The Widows of Eastwick. My final impressions are similar to those from earlier, when I previous commented on the novel. I like it better than The Witchesof Eastwick, in that John Updike is more successful in capturing the age-related tone … Continue reading
World and Town, In Medias Res
So far, I’m halfway through Gish Jen’s latest novel, World and Town, and my feelings on it are mixed. It took me a while to get into the narrative. I’m not sure if the longer-than-usual settling in period was due … Continue reading
And Where Is the Batman?!
Last week I mentioned that I have gone through a lot of comics over the past couple of months, and that I would try to catch up with what I’ve been reading. In past postings I’ve already discussed my readings in … Continue reading
The Sound of Witches
Last month I listened to John Updike’s The Witches of Eastwick on audiobook, and it was an okay experience. I feel mixed about the book. Part of the reason might be because of the film version, which I was unlucky … Continue reading
Happy Clown
As I mentioned on this blog the other day, I’m a big fan of Chester Brown. His most recent book, Paying for It, is one of the best comics of the year, and his earlier autobiographic work–I Never Liked You … Continue reading
Flying Mayors, Cranky Punk Journalists, and Archaeologists of the Impossible
In my last post I commented on several graphic novels I’ve recently read, and I also stated that I would write later about other comics I’ve been reading. There have been quite a number of superhero titles–which I’ll discuss at … Continue reading
Comic Reads
Over the past month and a half, as I’ve been making my way through several Woody Allen-related texts, I’ve also been reading quite a number of comics. Many of those have been superhero or mainstream, and I’ll discuss those in … Continue reading
Royal on Allen on Allen
I just finished Woody Allen on Woody Allen: In Conversation with Stig Björkman, and really enjoyed it. The book is a series of one-on-one interviews, or conversations, between Allen and Björkman that took place in the early 1990s, around the time … Continue reading
Woody Reconstruction
I just finished Mary Nichols’s Reconstructing Woody. It’s a good book, and my only substantive criticism is that at times the author relies too much on plot summary. Perhaps Nichols assumed that her main audience would be those unfamiliar with … Continue reading