Breaking free from everything!

Was walking down Piermont Ave near the Lighthouse restaurant and saw a little kid go running from the minivan. This kid was happy – happy that it was 65 degrees in February, happy to be outside, and happy to be naked.

I got the picture as dad started pacing the arm-pumping freedom-runner. This is a low-res crop, though.  I was also pretty far away, so I only got this one shot (I think there was a car coming too).
Breaking free from everything!

Originally uploaded by acelini

The Quitter – Harvey Pekar

Now, I’ve never seen American Splendor, though I’ve heard things about it. Good things.

Evidently, Harvey Pekar has a lot of psychological issues. This is his confessional (comics as confessional autobiography? Why not.)

This a good, and pretty quick read. I really liked the artwork (by Dean Haspel) – the blacks and whites are really effective.

Finished: 3/1/08
Pages: 104
Running page count:  4,430

from A Bowl of Cherries

“America is the only place where you get a second chance at adolescence.”

The Left Bank Gang – Jason

Summary (from the back of the book): “Struggling cartoonists Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ezra Pound, and James Joyce spend their days doggedly inking in panel after tiny panel on big, white artboards, and their evenings and nights hanging out in cafes where they argue about life, love, comics, and how to satisfy a woman. But life is tough in 1920s Paris…and then, one day, Heminway proposes an idea…”

I really enjoyed reading this (tiny) book, and it is a one-serving deal (which is refreshing – pick it up, read it, put it down). I absolutely loved the idea of swapping genres – turning some of my favorite authors into comic-ers. Jason (is it me, or are authors with one name just pretentious? Like “Prince.” WTF?) seems to capture the spirit of each of these “players” perfectly. Check it out.

Finished: 2/28/08
Pages: 46
Running page count: 4,326

A Bowl of Cherries – Millard Kaufman

Amy found this book in the library on the new release, shorter rental time shelf. What caught my eye was the “praise” on the front (paraphrased, forgot author of): Die Hard meets Catcher in the Rye. Now, I love both of these works (in fact, just watched Die Hard last night, and Amy gave it five stars! From her actively resisting seeing the movie for months to five stars in one night – I’ll take it.)

Anyway, I’m thinking witty Holden Caulfield meets barefoot, machine-gun wielding John McClane (which, on a side note, is SO similar to John McCain. This pisses me off. Hey, one says “Yippy-kay-yay, Motherfucker!” and the other one is just a – no , wait, that might be unfair. I don’t know his mother.).

What Kaufman gives is Judd Breslau, a child prodigy of sorts (going for doctorate work at Yale when he is fourteen), who writes his story from inside an Iraqi prison (literally, a shit-house – i.e. human feces is a key component in the building materials of all the buildings in town – this in turn is a key plot element – BRIT) while he awaits execution.

It is a tale of love and loss, of fathers and sons, of international relations and harmonics and nuclear energy. A perfect tale for the spirit of today.