Little reviews of little consequence

Birdbrain by Johanna Sinisalo
Two horrible people go camping and are slightly inconvenienced by either magic or nature. I read it in a diner.

Saints and Strangers by Angela Carter
Too many words and I got suspicious.

The Dyke & the Dybbuk by Ellen Gatford
The title is the plot with a little sprinkle of gay-dude-hating and grandpa Jew jokes. Left a confusing 90s taste in my mouth.

Daughters of Elysium by Joan Slonczewski
A painfully earnest account of future humans. She called a penis "mushroom" but I kept reading.

Madwoman of the Sacred Heart by Alejandro Jodorowsky and Moebius
Terrible mid-life man fantasy with religion and big breasts. As boring as that sounds.

Do Me: Tales of Sex & Love from Tin House
Nowhere near enough sex.

Sister Spit: Writing, Rants & Reminiscences from the Road, edited by Michelle Tea
Oh you all did the same thing and wrote slightly different accounts of that thing? 

Hey, been tryin to meet you: The Fire To Say

A long week and I had to change my face a little to separate from all those tense days. So I slathered on some pink lips and paid a taxi to get me to Chelsea and The Fire to Say. The lovely Aaron Cockle got me excited about it, thank goodness. When my cab pulled up, all the handsome friends were outside smoking. I took this as a good sign and hunched inside, back to the tiny room curated by Franklin Einspruch.

Normally, I am a needful for narrative, but I loved seeing these poems and pictures. Each sheet could be looked at as a moment fixed which was a good thing for such a little room. Original work is exciting because you can see the process, all the creases, the thickness of paint and ink and the little smudges. Julie Delporte's work was the most surprising. In her case, the larger images are made of smaller drawings raggedly collaged which I wouldn't have guessed.

Photo by Warren Craghead

Sometimes you have to leave the house and put your face close to the faces of others. I forget that, but meeting super tweet buddy Warren Craghead in person reminded me. Derik A. Badman, Franklin Einspruch and Paul K. Tunis were additional delights.

Aaron and I walked down through the streets to trains and laziness. Along the way I had to stop at a chi chi restaurant to pee. I snuck in with some highly ladyfied ladies and thought about my lips. Inside the toilet, a remix of The Pixies' Hey was playing and that was stupid but also just right.

been gluing

the reads of 2013

• Hyperbole and a Half by Allie Brosh
• Unclean Jobs for Women and Girls by Alissa Nutting
• Celebrated Summer by Charles Forsman
• Daughter of Elysium by Joan Slonczewski
• Making Tides by Eroyn Franklin
• Runx Tales 3 by Matt Runkle
• Jungle NIght by Renata Gasiorowska
• Black Light: Four Stories by Julia Gfrörer
• Operation Margarine 1-4 by Katie Skelly
• "Life Zone" by Simon Hanselmann
• Joey by Melissa Mendes
• Lou 1-17 by Melissa Mendes
• š! #15 edited by David Schilter & Sanita Muižniece
• Duplex by Kathryn Davis
• Birdbrain by Johanna Sinisalo
• Hitchers by WIll McIntosh
• Brain Plague by Joan Slonczewski
• Susceptible by Geneviève Castrée
• Hart & Boot & Other Stories by Tim Pratt
• Hangsaman by Shirley Jackson
• Fireworks: Nine Stories in Various Disguises by Angela Carter
• The Invention of Morel by Adolfo Bioy Casares
• The Miracle Cures of Dr. Aria by Cesar Aria
• The Understory by Pamela Erens
• š! #14 edited by David Schilter & Sanita Muižniece
• My Dirty Dumb Eyes by Lisa Hanawalt
• The Servant of the Underworld by Aliette De Bodard
• The Dyke & the Dybbuk by Ellen Gatford
• Saints and Strangers by Angela Carter
• Wise Children by Angela Carter
• The End of the Fucking World by Charles Forsman
• The Correspondence Artist by Barbara Browning
• Cartoon Picayune #5, edited by Josh Kramer
• The Big Feminist Butt, edited by Shannon O'Leary & Joan Reilly
• Girls, Visions, and Everything by Sarah Schulman
• Honored Guest by Joy WIlliams
• The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter
• kus 13: Life is Live
• Don't Cry by Mary Gaitskill
• Walking Through Clear Water in a Pool Painted Black by Cookie Mueller
• I Love Bad Movies #1-4, edited by Kseniya Yarosh and Matt Carman
• We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson
• Unknown Origins & Untimely Ends edited by Emi Gennis
• Canary by Nancy Jo Cullen
• Ayiti by Roxane Gay
• The Troll King by Kolbeinn Karlsson
• Americus by MK Reed and Jonathan Hill
• Black is the Color Part I & II by Julia Gfrörer
• The Passionate Mistakes and Intricate Corruption of on Girl in America by Michelle Tea
• Voyeurs by Gabrielle Bell
• Breaking & Entering by Joy Williams
• House of Dolls by Barbara Comyns
• Madwoman of the Sacred Heart by Alejandro Jodorowsky and Moebius
• Vampires in the Lemon Grove by Karen Russell
• Tenth of December by George Saunders
• All That's Left 0-2 by Maggie Eighteen
• Do Me: Tales of Sex & Love from Tin House
• Comics Class by Matthew Forsythe
• Heads or Tails? by Lilli Carre
• The Lagoon by Lilli Carre
• Our Library by Amanda Baeza
• All You Need is Love by Emmi Valve
• Historyjki by Maciej Sienczyk
• Otso by Mari Ahokoiva
• Sister Spit: Writing, Rants & Reminiscences from the Road, edited by Michelle Tea