Little Toy Robot

Nothing exciting happening this week. A lot of work, and a lot of coffee (yes, the two are related).

I’m reading McSweeney’s Enchanted Chamber of Astonishing Stories. All anthologies are mixed bags, but this one tends towards the less spectacular end of the spectrum. Standout stories from my first nibbles include those of Daniel Handler (aka Lemony Snicket), Jason Roberts, David Mitchell, and China Mieville. Mieville’s story in particular stands out because it’s unlike anything he’s ever written before, and it takes some time to settle into, and it ends up being wholly unsettling!

I’m also reading Men of Tomorrow, which is an extremely well written account of the men behind the early day of comics. Gerard Jones digs into the histories of the Jewish communities of New York and Cleveland and illuminates the murky beginnings of the comic industry, which owes a debt to soft-core pornographic pulp magazines and the mob. It’s well worth my time slowing down for this one and enjoying the ride.

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 2nd, 2004 at 3:49 pm and is filed under books.