01 Jul 2008, Written by Laura Pearson in literary,media,zines
Preserving Our Independents: Summer Reading List
“Preserving Our Independents” has spotlighted people whose creativity, ingenuity, and commitment have helped keep indie publishing ticking. But what sorts of publications make these people tick?
I asked writers, publishers, booksellers, distributors, teachers, editors, and supporters of independent publishing—some of whom have been featured in this column, some who have not—to provide a list of recommended reads for summer. Their suggestions range from short stories to comic books, from classic fiction to contemporary poetry. There’s a book recommendation for “people who think they’re scared of Shakespeare” and one for people who cook with a cast iron skillet. Other publications feature beautiful illustrations (The Never Mind) and soaring titles (Oh Pure and Radiant Heart). And let’s not forget such vibrant inclusions as World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War (an audio book read by Henry Rollins and Mark Hamill) and Thank You and You’re Welcome (an “entertaining volume of ‘Kanye-isms’” from the humble pen of Kanye West).
Yes, some of the items on the list are simply meant to inspire lighthearted literary recreation during the summer months. But in keeping with the reverential tone of this column, I’d like to give props to all the great stuff included below that was released by small presses on shoestring budgets. In fact, I encouraged participants to mention their own work—zines or books they’ve written, recent titles they’ve released—in hopes that you’ll seek out these fine publishers and publications, for summer reading and beyond!
So enjoy the selections below, and whether you’re embarking on an epic road trip, taking your lunch break in the park, or floating on a raft in the waters of Fiji whilst drinking a piña colada out of a coconut shell, may you never be without good reading material.
Without further ado, the summer reading list:
David Lasky, Comics Artist and Teacher
Don’t Go Where I Can’t Follow, by Anders Nilsen (Drawn and Quarterly)
Escape From Special, by Miss Lasko-Gross (Fantagraphics)
Happiness? An 826 Seattle Comic Book (826 Seattle) — I edited this.
365 Days, by Julie Doucet (Drawn and Quarterly)
Lone Wolf and Cub, Volume 16: Gateway Into Winter, by Kazuo Koike and Goseki Kojima (Dark Horse)
Hunter Clauss, Freelance Journalist and Chicago Public Radio Contributor
Crime, by Alix Lambert
The Killing Joke, by Alan Moore
Y: The Last Man, Volumes 1–10, by Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra
Novel of Roy Orbison in Clingfilm, by Ulrich Haarburste
Fantomas, by Marcel Allain and Pierre Souvestre
Jocelyn Burrell, Editor, South End Press
Books I truly wish I could read again for the first time:
Play It As It Lays, Joan Didion
Incognegro: A Memoir of Exile and Apartheid, by Frank B. Wilderson (South End Press)
The Collected Stories, Leonard Michaels
Ariel, by Sylvia Plath
Sister Outsider, by Audre Lorde
Jonathan Messinger, Co-Owner, featherproof books
The Facts of Winter, by Paul LaFarge
Jamestown, by Matthew Sharpe
Nellcott Is My Darling, by Golda Fried
Oh Pure and Radiant Heart, by Lydia Millet
I Am Death, by Gary Amdahl
Kathryn Lebo, Development Associate, Richard Hugo House
The Real West Marginal Way, Richard Hugo — memoir
The Egg and I, Betty MacDonald — memoir
Set This House in Order, Matt Ruff — fiction
The Cast Iron Skillet Cookbook, Sharon Kramis and Julie Kramis Hearne — cookbook
Dog & Me, Kary Wayson — poetry
Kaya Oakes, Writer and Former Senior Editor, Kitchen Sink magazine
Reading Comics, by Douglas Wolk — An excellent critical overview of both underground and mainstream comics that will be interesting to both comics addicts and laypeople. Newly out in paperback too, for all of us who are too poor to buy hardcovers.
Catching Tigers in Read Weather, by Andrew Demcak — One of the most powerful, kick-ass books of poetry I’ve read in ages (and I wrote one of his cover blurbs!). It’s from a very cool small press called Three Candles.
Shakespeare the Thinker, by A.W. Nuttall — A fascinating analysis of Shakespeare’s—well, thinking, and not too dense or overly academic. Good for people who think they’re scared of Shakespeare.
Anything from the 33 1/3 series of books about albums — Good for a few hours of informative and entertaining music-related reading.
The Braindead Megaphone, by George Saunders — Proves that essays can be entertaining. When people talk about nonfiction being dry or dull, this book is a good counteractive weapon.
Liz Mason, Manager, Quimby’s Bookstore
The Bad Lyrics Project, by me: Liz Mason! — I am very proud of this zine. It’s a sociological study of sorts of rock music lyrics. I personally think it’s very funny and entertaining, but then I’m the author!
Caboose #5: The Health and Recreation Issue, also by me: still Liz Mason! — A look at my adventures in the world of both traditional and alternative medicine with my weirdo undiagnosed illness (which has since been diagnosed as Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a type of cancer, but I’m doing pretty rockin’, all things considered).
The Body Has a Mind of Its Own, by Sandra and Matthew Blaksee — This book is authored by a mother-son science writing team. It’s all about maps in the brain and how they’re affected by what goes on around you. Heavy shit, but they make it light and fun.
Autobiography of a Yogi, by Paramahansa Yogananda — What I like about this book is that occasionally the author has some nice spiritual experiences that make the story juicy, but he learns a lot on the way, which makes him seem like a regular person.
Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex, by Mary Roach — The same author who wrote Stiff (about human cadavers) and Spook (about the afterlife) tackles sexual physiology in a hilarious and PERSONAL research book chronicling what happens during the ol’ in-and-out.
World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War, by Max Brooks — This is read on CD by a full cast, and the cast rocks! Henry Rollins, Carl Reiner, and a bunch of other folks—even Mark Hamill, who is actually really good. The price ($14.99) is about what you’d pay for the book in soft cover, so you might as well get the CD set. Max Brooks, by the way, is Mel Brooks’ son, in case you’re curious. This book is all about the zombie war that came close to eradicating humanity. Very apocalyptic and dark, but totally compelling.
Mairead Case, Managing Editor, Proximity magazine
Awe, by Dorothea Lasky (Wave Books)
Black Sabbath’s Master of Reality, by John Darnielle (Continuum)
A New Quarantine Will Take My Place, by Johannes Göransson (Apostrophe)
Lust, by Ellen Forney (Fantagraphics)
Kill All Your Darlings, by Luc Sante (Yeti)
Novel of Roy Orbison in Clingfilm, by Ulrich Haarburste (Serapion)
Shoot the Buffalo, by Matt Briggs (Clear Cut)
The Age of Flowers, by Umberto Pasti (Pushkin Modern)
Beauty Talk and Monsters, by Masha Tupitsyn
Any interview Sylvere Lotringer ever did (most on Semiotext(e))
Chronology, by Daniel Birnbaum (Sternberg)
Complete Minimal Poems, by Aram Saroyan (Ugly Duckling)
Selected Poems, by William Bronk (New Directions)
On the Lower Frequencies: A Secret History of the City, by Erick
Lyle (Soft Skull)
Dancing After Hours, by Andre Dubus
Cabinet magazine’s Colors column
Marco Kane Braunschweiler, Co-Owner, Golden Age
The Never Mind, by Robin Cameron — A small limited-edition drawing publication with a lot of funny transcriptions of real and fake conversations.
WON magazine, Volume 1, Issue 2, Autumn 2008 — Featuring: Daniel Wang, Will Sweeney, Aaron Rose, Ken Werner, Mårten Lange, The Changes, Nienke Klunder, Robert Cook, Thobias Fäldt, Amanda Maxwell, Linus Bill, Jeremie Egry, Andrew Long, Thomas Baldischwyler, Ben Barretto, Hoger Czukay, Vernon Treweeke, Deanna Templeton, Matt Wolf, Rosemary Scanlon, and Sarah Larnarch.
Wikipedia Reader, by Various Artists — For this project, the publisher asked artists with varying interests to create a thread of linking Wikipedia articles starting with something they found interest in, and continuing to other topics from links within the page. The results are a group of similar or dissimilar topics that are all linked together linearly. This is a really fresh, tasteful book.
Accounting for Dummies, by Somebody — Seriously, this is really good to read.
Kingsboro Press, Volume 1, Issue 3— Sixty-four pages of Riso printed glory. Features interviews and work with artists like Inka Jarvinen, C.W. Winter, Kim Hiorthoy, Karma International, plus writing from KBoro regulars like Alex Gartenfeld, Yan Yan, and Jonathan Basile.
Martine Syms, Co-Owner, Golden Age
Getting Things Done, by David Allen — For all rippers and rulers.
Modern Typography: An Essay in Critical History, by Robin Kinross — I’ve been trying to get through this all year. Maybe now I’ll finally have a chance.
Appendix Appendix, by Stuart Bailey and Ryan Gander — The perfect conceptual art supplement to marathon TV watching (available at Golden Age).
The Kingsboro Press, Issues 1–3 — My art/design/culture periodical of choice (available at Golden Age).
Thank You and You’re Welcome, by Kanye West — The man, the performer, and the poet graces us with wise words. I got it for free, but it’s still priceless. I’m trying to find a way to make it required reading for my students this summer.
Richard Nash, Publisher, Soft Skull Press
All About Lulu, by Jonathan Evison (Soft Skull)
Black Flies, by Shannon Burke (Soft Skull)
The Good Fairies of New York, by Martin Millar (Soft Skull)
My Zorba, by Danielle Pafunda (Bloof Books)
The Changeling, by Joy Williams (Fairy Tale Review Press)
Zach Dodson, Co-Owner, featherproof books
Bicycle, by Paul Fattaruso (St. George Press) — This clever little book will make you want to ride your bike all summer long.
This Will Go Down on Your Permanent Record, by Susannah Felts (featherproof books) — Our first young adult novel. Set over a dramatic, nostalgia-drenched Nashville summer.
Paper & Carriage, Issue 3 (Green Lantern) — A beautiful letterpress cover and Henry Darger inside! How could you go wrong with this Chicago-based “slow media” magazine?
The Order of Odd Fish, by James Kennedy (Delacorte) — Reading this debut young adult novel by Chicago author James Kennedy is better than a nuzzle on the nose from Aznath, the Silver Kitten of Deceit!
boring boring boring boring boring boring boring, by Zach Plague (featherproof books) — I uncomfortably recommend my own book to anyone who is listening.
Mule magazine, Issue 5 — It’s mystical!
The Mayor’s Tongue, by Nathaniel Rich (Riverhead) — It starts off with an awkward sex scene. Need I say more?
Why the Devil Chose New England for His Work, by Jason Brown (Open City) —Save this lachrymose short story collection for a rainy indoor day.
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