BOOK REVIEWS

RAD DAD
Dispatches from the Frontiers of Fatherhood
Edited by Tomas Moniz & Jeremy Adam Smith (microcosm) (pm press)
The Rad Dad book is a greatest hits package of the zine Tomas Moniz has been publishing for going on twenty issues now. It’s written for men who may be struggling with all the complexities of being a father in this or any age. The book is broken up into sections: "Birth, Babies, and Toddlers," "Childhood," "Tweens and Teens," and "Politics of Parenting." The last section of the book features interviews with rad dads like hip hop writer Jeff Chang (Can’t Stop Won’t Stop) and Ian McKaye (Minor Threat, Fugazi, The Evens, Dischord Records). I am most certainly rad but not a dad, so I haven’t read every article and essay in this book, but some are interesting regardless of your parental status ("Notes From a Sperm Donor" for example). If, however, you have achieved fatherhood and are looking for advice, find comfort in the fact that you can turn to the pages of Rad Dad, now in handy book form.

THE COMICS JOURNAL #301
When did The Comics Journal get so freakin' fat? Weighing in at one and a half pounds, this 624 page sucker features more of what you love (or hate) about comics criticism: long, detailed interviews and reviews that will take you days to read. Absorbing, or perhaps tedious depending on your mood, this is a beast I’ve been wrestling with for a few months. This issue features an interview with R. Crumb conducted by Journal publisher, Gary Groth. The topic of discussion is Crumb’s illustrated creation story, Genesis. Groth questions Crumb on the development of his technique over the years, his creative process for this project and what led him to begin his adaptation of the ultimate beginning. The interview is followed by a roundtable barrage of praise and criticism from over a half dozen art and culture critics, who either praise Crumb or take the artist to task for a variety of sins.

Also featured in #301 are sketchbook/interviews with Tim Hensley, Stephen Dixon and Jim magazine creator, Jim Woodring, from whom Groth seeks to find an answer to the question of why Woodring is compelled to draw such repulsive images. Turns out Woodring doesn't really know.

MAD Magazine fans will appreciate the transcribed, transgenerational conversation between the 89-year-old Al Jaffee (creator of the Mad fold-in) and Michael Kupperman (a current pop culture provocateur) in which the two artists talk about art as work, art as satire and art for art’s sake.

Adding further heft to the issue is Tim Krieder's arugument with himself over the question of whether or not Dave Sim’s epic Cerebus comic should be considered a major work of art? I must admit that I haven't been swayed that it should, but I also haven't made it to the end of Krieder's article and I've only made it through Volume 1 of Sim's 16 Cerebus volumes.

But wait, there's more, including an article on comics pioneer and "Dean of Amercian Cartoonists," John T. McCutcheon; an interview with Joe Sacco concerning his graphic novel Footprints in Gaza; reprints of the "Gerald McBoing Boing," strip penned by one Theodore Geisel, aka Dr. Suess; and a slew of other aritcles, criticism and opinion that I haven’t even gotten to yet—all wrapped in a fantastic Robert Crumb cover taken from his Genesis book.

HOW AND WHY:
A DO-IT-YOURSELF GUIDE
Matte Resist (microcosm)
Although I may not attempt all or any of the projects laid out in this book, this is a good resource to have at your disposal. Matte provides step-by-step how-to's on everything from caring for your own garden to building your own musical instruments. Internet how-to's just capitalize on Google algorithms, zeroing in on key words and bombarding you with more ad links than advice. Like much of the information found on the information superhighway, these web pages can prove to be ultimately frustrating, pointless and impractical. Don't get me wrong, I love my Interwebs, but this is a book you can take with you out to the backyard or work shed and get down to the business of building shit. The main chapters concern bikes, gardening, home schooling, home and garage and musical instruments. The last chapter is a catchall that gives advice on dumpster diving and tutorials on stencil making, watch repair—a dozen projects in all. That's the 'how-to' part. The 'why' is Matte's own take on why he does the things he does the way he does them. If you're at all familiar with Microcosm titles then you should be familiar with the DIY ethos and what that entails, so I won't break it down here. I'll just leave you with my own how-to: If you want to get your ass more self-sufficient, then don't "resist" this book. (Get it? Matte Resist...)

EDIBLE SECRETS: A Food Tour of Classified US History
Mia Partlow & Michael Hoerger (microcosm)
How do you take the information obtained from over a half million declassified government documents and present it in a way that is palatable for the average reader? You do what Mia Partlow and Michael Hoerger did. You make it about food. The pair noticed a theme while scouring through these piles of files: references to food kept popping up like waffles out of a toaster. That became the focal point of their presentation, from the CIA's attempt to poison Fidel Castro's milkshake (one of many failed assassination attempts) to the trumped up ice cream truck robbery charges that resulted in jail time for a young Fred Hampton. The book also sheds light on the bubbly relationship between the Coke and Pepsi corporations and whoever happens to be in the White House. (The Cola Wars is serious, ya'll.) Edible Secrets also examines the CIA's study of subliminal messaging, which was originally used to subconsciously compel moviegoers to crave popcorn. And what was Ronald Reagan's solution to Mexico's impending food shortage? Why the answer to all the worlds problems of course: The Free Market. Quite a compelling effort here and one that will make you hungry for more knowledge about what our government is cooking up in their behind the test kitchens.

(NOTE: All puns intended.)

THE CHAINBREAKER BIKE BOOK
A Rough Guide to Bicycle Maintenance
by Shelly Lynn Jackson & Ethan Clark (microcosm)
Half handy guide to bicycle maintenance, half zine about all things bike, The Chainbreaker Bike Book is a comprehensive, illustrated manual for maintaining your ride. The book covers everything from dealing with your bike (from tools to tune-ups) to dealing with bike shops. Authors Ethan and Shelly both have long histories with bicycles and have both worked at the Plan B bike collective in New Orleans, so they not only have a passion for the material, they have the knowledge to back it up. The guide is intended for anyone and everyone who has an interest in self-propelled, self-sustained, two-wheeled transport regardless of the make or model of the bike or its rider. The back half of the book is the first four issues of the Chainbreaker zine that celebrated bike culture, and New Orleans specifically, which is a huge bonus to an already valuable publication. Ride your bike!

ZINESTER’S GUIDE TO NYC
Ayun Halliday (microcosm)
The Zinester’s Guide to New York City is the second installment of such handy guides published by Microcosm (the first being the Portland version). For this two-hundred and fifty plus page book, writer and zine publisher Ayun Halliday (East Village Inky) gathered contributions from dozens of writers and artists who offer up their choices of favorite restaurants, bars, live music venues, parks, and special events in NYC. Very useful and well-thought out with a handy index section in the back of the book, although the section on public restrooms could be expanded, perhaps with a map and a star rating system anyway... just a suggestion. Illustrated and informative whether you are a New Yorker or just passing through. Includes artwork and writing from Liz Baillie, Carrie McNinch, Heath Row and many, many others.

FIREBRANDS: Portraits from the Americas
(Microcosm Publishing)
Produced by the artists and writers of the Justseeds Artists Cooperative, Firebrands is a compilation of seventy-eight short biographies accompanied by illustrations. Highlighting the lives and struggles of both well-known and lesser known activists, Firebrands is informative sure, but more than that, it's inspirational. The profiles here focus on Americans (North, South and Central) who have either worked, fought or died for social change in their communities. From such obvious candidates as W.E.B. Dubois and John Brown to more recent icons like Tupac Shakur (a surprising choice at first glance but completely justified), Firebrands is more in line with Howard Zinn's People’s History of the United States than with your basic Texas high school text book. Hopefully, this book will inspire all of us to learn more about these revolutionary individuals now that we've been given a glimpse, however brief, into their lives and accomplishments—Chris Auman

ALL MUSIC GUIDE TO COUNTRY 2nd Ed.
(Backbeat Books)
With country music and its manifestations reaching ever deeper into the world's cultural psyche, All Music offers an in-depth encyclopedic guide to the massive genre. The book covers the extended bluegrass scene given greater popularity by O Brother Where Art Thou?, with entries from the close harmony traditionalists, Osborne Brothers, to such progressives as Darrell Scott. Doc Watson gets four pages and the FM country scene from Dwight Yoakam to popular western swing revivalists, Asleep at the Wheel, is here. The alt-country scene is present, too, covered from Bloodshot recording artist Robbie Fulks to the popular Old 97's. The entries are in the expected form for these successful All Music 'cyclopedias. That is, biographies and then key reviews with recommended starting points. This makes for over 10,000 rated reviews. The well-indexed tome includes style descriptions, a section for compilations and sound-tracks, essential albums by genre and two dozen rich essays on aspects of country music, like "Country on Film" and "Country Soundtracks." This is a valuable resource for the serious fan of any part of the varied country music spectrum. Where else would you find that The Residents, Savoy Brown, and Elvis Costello all drew on the early 70s countrified British pub rock group Chili Willi & the Red Hot Peppers for members?—Tom 'Tearaway' Schulte

BORN TO ROCK
Todd Taylor (Gorsky Press)
Interviews and essays, but mostly interviews, and not necessarily insightful interviews, but typical fanzine fare. I much preferred the introductory essay on why and how Todd got into punk rock as I never tiring of such cherry poppin' stories. Todd's story seems unique in that he came to punk rock via a car crash and the Boy Scouts of America. I would like to read more about Todd's time at the late Flipside magazine and his subsequent fallout with its owner and creator Al Flipside. Maybe that is in the works. At any rate, as far as interviews go, we got Toys the Kill, Fletcher from Pennywise, Duane Peters from US Bombs, NOFX, Strike Against and more!—Chris Auman

BUBBLEGUM MUSIC IS THE NAKED TRUTH
The Dark History of Prepubescent Pop from the Banana Splits
Kim Cooper and David Smay, Editors (Feral House)
A cast of contributors (from cartoonist Peter Bagge to the bizarre Partridge Family Temple to Greg Shaw) document the history of, and opine on, and celebrate the unknowns of bubblegum music. Pete Townsend once remarked, "some of the world's best music is bubblegum" and most of these contributors agree. Their overlapping and amorphous definitions of the genre cause the chronologically laid out volume to act as a history of pop music from the 60s to today with a focus on that music created with marketing in mind. Entertaining and enlightening, this lively tome sheds light on the names behind the manufactured sounds, the true stories of the real people leading or trapped in the movement, and institutions that fostered its growth. As educational as it is fun, this excellent collection of essays and interviews is a must for any music fan—Tom 'Tearaway' Schulte

DOSSIER
A Collection of Short Stories
Stepan Chapman (Creative Arts Book Company)
Cosmologies, creation stories, myths, fairy tales; Dossier, more than anything else, documents the inner workings of a very strange and creative mind. In Stepan Chapman's world, forgotten scraps of metal rebuild themselves into machines in a warehouse on the edge of town; Wheelgirls, half flesh, half machine, circumnavigate Centaura 5 perpetually, unable to stop lest they melt from the planet's scorching lava surface; and in a bizarre rewrite of history, the course of the Russian Revolution is forever altered as the hydrogen in the earth's stratosphere bursts into flame. It's a thin line between the dreamworld and dementia from this 1998 winner of the Philip K. Dick Memorial Award, (and Reglar Wiglar contributor!)—Chris Auman

I, SHITHEAD
A Life in Punk
Joey "Shithead" Keithley
(Arsenal Pulp Press)
Keithley formed D.O.A. in 1978, giving him a founder's eye view of the North American hardcore scene and post-punk underground rock the world over. This chronicle of his adventures shows the many sides of Shithead: musician, activist and businessman. The meticulously researched book has all the names and dates to make this detailed D.O.A. history extended from band autobiography into scene history. The naturally arranged chronological history is full of lessons for would-be independent bands and illustrative anecdotes of venues and scenes now gone. You will not find this book pandering to a morbid curiosity about rock 'n' roll excess, but you will find a triumphant and inspiring testimonial about plucky punk pioneers as loose knit islands of affinity grow from a casual network to a global web of labels, venues and touring agencies. The book has plenty of pictures and D.O.A. lyrics from Joey's own hand—Tom 'Tearaway' Schulte

LEXICON DEVIL
The Fast Time and Short Life of Darby Crash and The Germs
Brendan Mullen with Don Bolles and Adam Parfrey
(Feral House)
Adam Parfrey's Feral House gives us another fascinating biography with the unique format of chronologically arrayed series of short, paragraph-length quotes from those that knew or experienced the subject. No attempt is made to rectify contradictions. (Looking back, how often can the truth of biographical minutiae really be determined?) The result makes for easy reading and provides a kaleidoscopic view of the subject. Author/editor/ publisher, Adam Parfrey (Apocalypse Culture, Extreme Islam) stakes a claim in the rich quarry of the violent and dark subcultures and counter-cultures. Through this lens, Germs vocalist and songwriter, Darby Crash appears as both a taunting jester of the burg-eoning West Coast punk scene as well as mischievous, if not malevolent, pied piper leading impressionable thrill seekers into would-be decadence of the type predicted by Oswald Spengler in The Decline Of The West. Through the remembrance quips, Crash also reveals a side as an extre-mely image conscious and thus insecure youth struggling more to obscure his homosexuality rather than create a cohesive and worthy artistic legacy. Taken this way, it seems that songs that still reverberate in the global punk community, are only accidental revelations of writing genius whose suicide cut short a career that could have been even more defining on this music genre. Full of black and white pictures, this volume includes lyrics of songs by The Germs, a discography, as well as a time line of gigs and key events—Tom 'Tearaway' Schulte

THE ZINE YEARBOOK, VOL. 6
(Become the Media)
The Zine Yearbook, Vol. 6 samples from zines published in 2001 that had a circulation of less than 5,000 copies. Arranged alphabetically, the article and comic excerpts preserve the original layout. As such, each sample is a microcosm of the originating zine. The varied compendium starts suitably with an analysis of the current state of zines from Ache (more "meta-commentary in graphic form from Cat and Girl) and thus begins a swatch that runs the gamut from personal rants (America? and Etidorhpa) to the activist agenda (Media Reader and Resist). While, statistically, most 2001 zines of small distribution were probably poetry and music publications, The Zine Yearbook continues the worthy task of presenting a spectrum of guerilla social criticism and the wit that arises from punk ideology—Tom 'Tearaway' Schulte