SIBR: The Best American Comics 2008 & A Fan's Notes

Here are reviews for the two books I've read so far this month.  I usually wait until the end of the month to write one all-encompassing books post, but I recently discovered that my recall isn't as good as it should be.  By the end of the month, I've already forgotten what happened in the books I read at the beginning of the month.  So I'm going to try it this way for awhile.

BOOKS READ:
The Best American Comics 2008--Lynda Barry (editor)

This anthology is the third book in the Best American series to deal with comics and graphic novels.  Like the other two volumes, I didn't always agree with the selections.  This was the first one, however, that didn't feature anything I hated.  The excerpt from Jason Lutes's "Berlin" didn't make much sense out of context, and I could've done without the work by Kaz and Derf, but even these lesser selections were worth reading.  Taken as a whole, I'd say that this volume is better than the previous two.

My favorite selection was "Cupid's Day Off" by Evan Larson.  It tells the story of what happens when Cupid leaves Shelley the Secretary in charge while he spends the day boozing it up in a strip club.  He tells Shelley to stay away from his bow and arrow, but she sees so many unhappy people on her way to work that she can't resist shooting a few arrows around.  She's not very discriminating with her shots and soon all sorts of inappropriate couplings are taking place.  I don't actually laugh out loud very often, but this story had me cracking up.

Graham Annable's "Burden" was also a personal favorite.  It's about a man who goes around making amends for his deadbeat brother.  He pays his brother's rent, returns a stolen necklace to his brother's ex-girlfriend, and delivers a letter from his brother to their father...all the while carrying a gigantic black bag over his shoulders.

Two other selections deserve a mention.  Both are adaptations of folktales and feature brilliant art.  "The Monkey and the Crab" by Shawn Cheng and Sara Edward-Corbett is an adaptation of a Japanese folktale about revenge.  It features some of the best art I've ever seen in a comic.  Joseph Lambert's "Turtle, Keep It Steady!" is a retelling of the story of the tortoise and the hare.  Instead of having a more traditional race, the two battle it out on the drums.  If you ever see this book in a store, turn to page 187 and check out all those dancing animals.

On one final note, I would like to point out to Chris Ware that his Thanksgiving covers for The New Yorker feature one glaring error that was as comical to me as anything in any of the other comics.  Punk Girls Do Not Wear Crocs!  Never!  Just thought I'd mention that.

A Fan's Notes--Frederick Exley

I first heard of Frederick Exley a couple months ago while reading The Top Ten: Writers Pick Their Favorite Books.  George Pelecanos picked A Fan's Notes as his #6 novel.  I'd already read his top five, so I stuck it on my list of books to look into.  A couple days later, the book came up again at a reading by Brock Clarke.  The author mentioned during the Q&A that he was working on a book about Exley.  I decided that these two references were the universe's way of getting me to read A Fan's Notes.  I don't mess with the universe, so I bought a copy of the book.

I can now say that the universe did me a favor.  I don't actually have a list of my favorite books, but if I did, A Fan's Notes would be on it...definitely top twenty, maybe top ten.  I'm a bit confused, though.  I wonder how Brock Clarke is going to approach a book about Frederick Exley.  The book on Exley has already been written...by Exley himself.  A Fan's Notes is subtitled "A Fictional Memoir".  Although some names have been changed and some events altered for the sake of the story, A Fan's Notes is essentially the story of Frederick Exley's life.

What's it about?  Well, the main character in the book (also named Frederick Exley) grows up worshipping his father, a local football hero.  Exley isn't much of an athlete, preferring the life of a wannabe writer, but he still desires the fame and respect his father receives from the locals.  Exley heads off to USC where he briefly meets college football sensation, Frank Gifford.  Exley is fascinated by the famous golden boy.  He follows Gifford's career all the way to the NFL.  The highlight of Exley's week is watching Gifford and the New York Giants play every Sunday.  Exley longs for his own success, but spends most of the book drunk, fighting, fucking, watching TV, or wasting away in mental institutions.  One day while fighting two men in Greenwich Village, Exley realizes he'll never get the fame he's after.  He'll just spend his life on the sidelines celebrating the success of others.

A Fan's Notes is an incredibly sad book.  Exley sabotages his life over and over again.  I found it difficult to feel too bad for the guy, though.  He went on to write A Fan's Notes, afterall.  A book about failure ended up being Frederick Exley's greatest success.

CURRENTLY READING:
Knockemstiff--Donald Ray Pollock