Top 10 Albums You've Never Heard
You might know a guy who knows a guy who has a bootleg; you might have downloaded some low-quality mp3s; you might have actually dreamed that you heard these but these are 10 albums that never got released so trust me: You Never Heard Them.
http://www.yesbutnobutyes.com/archives/2007/01/top_10_albums_y.html
]]>2. Palomar(GN) - Gilbert Hernandez
Another gigantic Love & Rockets collection (actually the first to be released but second that I've read). This is where Hernandez began developing a huge cast of characters that he is still doing amazing things with 20 years later.
3. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close - Jonathan Safran Foer
I regret slightly that I listened to this audiobook rather than reading the physical book which is chock full of eye candy. I don't imagine I missed much without it. The strength of this story is the character of Oskar Schell, the most likeable child protagonist I've read since Mark Haddon's autistic narrator in Curious Incident of the Dog at Night.
4. End of Faith - Sam Harris
A refreshing attack on religion during a time where everyone in the media, politics and Hollywood are being so careful not to get the Christian evangelicals and Muslim radicals riled up.
5. Against All Enemies - Richard Clarke
An infuriating and important book about 9/11. How the Bush administration dropped the ball both before and after it.
6. State of Denial - Bob Woodward
Equally infuriating and equally important. Woodward spells out the obvious about the Iraq quagmire but in a way that finally no one can really deny. His track record in recording Bush's War since 9/11 gives the damning descriptions of the fuck-ups in Iraq some best-seller level weight. It's pretty clear from reading this book how and when it all went wrong and it isn't pretty.
7. The Girl With The Long Green Heart - Lawrence Block
I read 4 books from the Hard Case Crime series this year and this one was the best. A great, well thought out long con story.
8. Like A Velvet Glove Cast in Iron(GN) - Daniel Clowes
Being a huge Clowes fan I had beeen savoring this one for a couple of years, not wanting to read it and then be left without it to look forward to. Probably no need since having now read it I could very easily jump into it's Lynchian/Pynchonian universe again.
9. American Born Chinese (GN) - Gene Yang
The first graphic novel to be nominated for a National Book Award and it is well deserving though I was disappointed in the ending. Tying together the three separate stories seemed unnecessary and might have actually hurt the individual stories in doing so.
10. Luba: Luba in America/Luba: The Book of Ofelia - Gilbert Hernandez
After reading Palomar, it's nice to know that there is much more to read so I happily jumped into the first two volumes of the Luba trilogy. Very different than Palomar in that the story takes place mostly in America and mostly follows Luba's sisters, Petra and Fritz. Hernandez continues to develop his characters in an emotionally realistic way while placing them in situations that are magical, perverse and sometimes just weird.
11. American Gods - Neil Gaiman
Overly long, at least in Audiobook format, but Gaiman tells a fun, imaginative and gripping epic about mythological gods fighting to retain relevance in the modern New World of America.
12. A Scanner Darkly - Philip K. Dick
Less sci-fi than I expected from my first Dick novel but he won me over with his exploration of identity using an undercover narc who finds himself having to stake out himself.
13. The Cold Six Thousand - James Ellroy
Another really long audiobook and it was a sequel nonetheless. At one point I thought I was at the end but was shocked to find I still had another 6 hour mp3 file to go. Ellroy's 1960's gumshoe style becomes Beat Poetry when read aloud. You've got to love a story that ties together the JFK assasination, the RFK assasination and the MLK assasination and everything inbetween.
14. Lost at Sea(GN) - Bryan Lee O'Malley
A poignant, airy little story with beautifully simple drawings about an insecure girl on a road trip with some friends who begins to worry that her sould has been stolen by all these cats she keeps seeing everywhere.
15. A Touch of Death - Charles Williams
Another Hard Case crime book. This one stands out for the great back-and-forth between the book's outmatched anti-hero and its conniving villainess.
16. Epileptic (GN) - David B.
Beautifully illustrated and full of more imagination and introspection than anything I've read this year. It's probably too long by almost half though and you start to feel that early on when David's family takes his epileptic brother to yet another homeopathic commune.
17. No Country For Old Men - Cormac McCarthy
McCarthy is famous for his gritty and modern border dramas. This one involves a man in Texas who finds a truck full of dead Mexicans, a huge stash of heroin and a case full of cash. He of course takes the money and of course people come looking for him. The book is relentless in how it deals with the fallout but the larger story it seems to be trying to tell about men and war, specifically Vietnam, didn't seem to connect all the way with the plot or with me for that matter.
18. Making Comics - Scott McCloud
Though not as eye-opening as McCloud's must-read Understanding Comics it is still dense with valuable information for us wanna-be comic creators.
19. The Colorado Kid - Stephen King
My first foray into the Hard Case Crime series and, having read some others now, this really doesn't seem to fit with the series. King tells a great little unexplained mystery here but there are no hard luck anti-heroes and that woman in the skimpy dress on the cover is not the more modest woman who acts as King's sympathetic protagonist in the book. It may not be crime-noir exactly but it's a strong story that goes against expectations in a lot of ways.
20. Fables: 1001 Nights of Snowfall (GN)- Bill Willingham and others
A beautiful hardcover from the Fables series that sees a number of amazingly talented artists fill in some backstory for a lot of the characters we've gotten to know from the regular series. Not a bad story in the bunch and full of Fables' signature blend of fairy tale folklore with an adult twist.
21. American Theocracy - Kevin Phillips
Conservative writer Phillips explores the decline of America from three vantage points - Christian fundementalism, oil addiction and rising debt and shows how we're just repeating history for about the 3rd or 4th time.
22. Brooklyn Follies - Paul Auster
Auster explores bittersweet life in Brooklyn with a generally likeable stand-in for himself but surrounded by some rather forgettable Brooklynites.
23. Night Fisher(GN) - R. Kikuo Johnson
A beautiful first book by Johnson that is exciting more for the promise of his future work than for the actual story told here.
24. Tricked (GN) - Alex Robinson
Robinson follows up his extremely likeable Box Office Poison with another comic book tome and another sprawling cast of characters. This one isn't as memorable and feels like he's striving to make this an important work but it isn't quite there.
25. 12 Reasons Why I Love Her (GN) - Jamie S. Rich and Joelle Jones
Jolle Jones may be one of my favorite new comic artists to emerge this year. That's how much I loved her work here. It's a fairly lightweight story about a relationship but with a very real, flawed and interesting female character.
26. The Hot Kid - Elmore Leonard
Leonard goes back to his western roots and retains most of his crime-writing appeal though the plot doesn't feel as complex and the characters not as quirky as I'm used to from him.
27. The Road To Wellville - TC Boyle
A fun little comedy that takes place during the rise of the breakfast cereal in Battle Creek, Michigan. The characters are a little hit and miss, the biggest miss being with the main character John Kellogg but the comic plights of character's like Will and Charlie kept me interested.
28. Perspective For Comic Artists - David Chelsea
Perspective is one of those subjects that seem to be easier to understand when presented in comic form like this. Chelsea is an amazing artist but probably doesn't have the personality to his books that makes Scott McCloud more successful at this sort of thing.
29. Clumsy (GN) - Jeffrey Brown
Brown's scribbled memories of this relationship can be cloying or sweet depending on your mood. If you go with cloying you have to at least be happy that the relationship doesn't end well.
30. 361 - Donald Westlake
My least favorite of the 4 Hard Case Crime books I read this year. It's a dark tale of family honor and revenge but honestly I can't even remember how it ended and I only read it a few weeks ago.
31. See No Evil - Robert Baer
CIA operative Robert Baer tells us as much as he can reveal about his career in the field. It gets surprisingly boring halfway through but then picks up when Baer finds his job being hindered by government bureaucracy and corporate interference.
32. Wimbledon Green (GN) - Seth
A beautifully retro series of drawings that honor Seth's fancy of old cartoons by telling the tale of a mysterious comic book collector. There are a some laughs but it mostly just looks pretty.
33. De:Tales - Gabriel Ba and Fabio Moon
I'm a big fan of the art from these two brothers but they work better when collaborating with writers I think. The stories here, though beautifully drawn, can be a bit heavy handed.
33. The Long Tail - Chris Anderson
Anderson's theory of the Long Tail is important in today's internet-driven commerce structure but a lot of it felt like old news by the time I got around to listening to the audiobook.
34. Put The Book Back On The Shelf(GN) - Anthology
A collection of comic book artists and writers interpreting Belle & Sebastian's music. It's very obvious that a number of them didn't even listen to the songs they were adapting.
Here's some books I started but couldn't bring myself to finish:
Absolute Friends - John LeCarre
I actually got halfway through this waiting for it to get into really meaty spy drama. Then I realized that it probably wasn't ever going to.
100 Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
It didn't take long for me to get completely lost in all the characters and the seamless change of scenes and stories.
The Blind Assasin - Margaret Atwood
The second time I tried to read this highly acclaimed novel. For some reason it just didn't grab me.
It's A Good Life If You Don't Weaken (GN) - Seth
It doesn't make sense that I don't like Seth's work. His sensibilities should fall totally in line with mine but there is something about his yearning for comics of old that feel tired and humorless.
1 Black Angels - Passover
2 Jenny Lewis & The Watson Twins - Rabbit Fur Coat
3 Cat Power - The Greatest
4 Snow Patrol - Eyes Open
5 People in Planes - As Far As The Eyes Can See
6 Elbow - Leaders of the Free World
7 Mates of State - Bring it Back
8 Neko Case - Fox Confessor Brings The Flood
9 Belle & Sebastian - The Life Pursuit
10 Camera Obscura - Let's Get Out Of This Country
Christopher Nolan is proving to be one of the most exciting and reliable directors we have today. He has yet to make a bad movie and even though I had some problems with The Prestige it was an incredibly well-crafted film that had me riveted the whole way through.
The story is about the career-long conflicts between two turn of the century magicians in England played by Christian Bale (Batman) and Hugh Jackman (Wolverine). Like we haven't longed to see those two go at it before. Bale and Jackman give great performances as does Michael Caine (Alfred the butler) as Cutter the engineer. A tragic accident during a magic trick involving a water tank claims the life of Jackman's wife and sets off the vicious the antagonism between the two magicians. As they try to one-up and sabotage each other's acts we get a glimpse into the unseemly backstage-view of 19th century magic seeing how some of these tricks are performed. Both magicians are obsessed with their craft and will play very dirty to get ahead.
The problem I have with the film is the very end which involves a couple of twists that I won't spoil here. One of them however is pretty obvious if you watch closely (like they tell you to do at the beginning of the film). The other seems to go against the sensibilities set up by the film, introducing an otherworldly element that, although thought-provoking and interesting, disregards the nature of illusion for the sake of science fiction.
]]>
Gene Yang, in his first full length graphic novel which is the first GN to ever win a National Book Award, pulls off a story that works on a miraculous number of levels being part folk tale, part coming of age teen drama, part over the top race comedy. Each part of this story would stand perfectly on it's own but Yang still finds a way to tell one complete story with each, even going so far as to bringing the seemingly separate stories together in the end.
The folk tale part is a retelling of the Chinese tale of the Monkey King. Yang's Monkey King is cute but also stubborn and belligerent. When he is rejected by the other gods because he's a monkey he goes on a warpath and lapses into self-loathing. A theme continued throughout the book.
The teen drama is the compelling story of Jin, a Chinese-American teen trying to assimilate in his school and smitten with a girl that he can barely find the courage to talk to. Jin tries very hard to fit in, to the point of turning his back on his own heritage and his own sense of self.
And the comedy comes from the bizarre story of Chin-kee, the most offensive stereotype a Chinese person could imagine, complete with yellow skin and mixed up R's and L's. Chin-kee is in America visiting his inexplicably non-Chinese cousin Danny and everything he does embarrasses Danny to no end. Like eating cat stew in the school cafeteria and jumping on the table to sing "She Bangs" William-Hung style. This story is equipped with a laugh track that adds to the surreally offensive tone.
All three of these stories are nothing short of brilliant. Then, Yang throws in a shocker by bringing the stories together into one. I couldn't help but feel a little disappointed in this turn of events. It felt a little unnecessary since each part was already building on the same themes and bringing them together doesn't really add anything. Nonetheless, this is one of the best stories of cultural assimilation I have read and Yang's clean artwork, sense of humor and imagination make this a fantastic graphic novel.
]]>
My third Hard Case Crime novel and the second to deal with the theme of 'broads' and how you just can't trust 'em. In this reprint of Williams' 1953 novel, Lee Scarborough, a down and out ex-football star walks in on a topless, sunbathing Diana James and from there his troubles just begin. Diana uses her feminine wiles to convince Lee to help her out in finding $120,000 in embezzled cash (let's remember that in 1953 that amount of money would have been worth all the trouble Lee eventually goes through, just one example of the fun, dated touches of these Hard Case reprints). The money was stolen by Diana's now deceased lover and resides somewhere in his estate. The simple plan is for Lee to sneak into the empty house and find the money. But of course the house isn't empty and Lee winds up attached to the hip for the rest of the novel with Madelon Butler, wife of the deceased and mastermind behind the troubles of every character in this book.
This is a fun read, furthering my love for the Hard Case imprint. Lee is an interesting character because he's fairly cunning in his attempts to stay on top of the situation but he is outmatched by the far more devious Madelon and because he knows this he slips up even more than he should. Madelon herself is cold and ruthless but in such a sophisticated way, fitting her upper class lifestyle. She is never anything less than a lady and it is pretty amusing how she is relaxed in every situation, whether accepting the fact that she was kidnapped in her pajamas and robe or that she spends each day as a hostage, rolling up her sleeves and sunbathing in the window. There is a lurid (by '50's sensibilities I guess) sexuality that drives a number of scenes and Williams is understated in how he describes it. The plot eventually builds to a surprising and frantic conclusion, perfectly matching the breakdown of Lee's own cool facade.
]]>
Martin Scorcese returns to form with his new film, The Departed after trying with his last couple of movies to court Academy voters with little success. His Gangs of New York was a bloated, big budget period epic. The Aviator, which I really liked, was his period bio-pic. Now with the third film of his Leo trilogy (triLeogy, maybe?) he returns to his bread and butter - the crime story. But this time, like Woody Allen with Match Point, Scorcese has left his comfort zone of New York and sets the film in Boston giving him new mean streets, new accents and a mafia full of Irish instead of Italian tough guys.
This is a welcome return to what Scorcese does best. And it isn't even the virtuoso cinematic performance you expect from him. A lot of the sweeping cameras and ever-present classic rock soundtrack is actually toned down a bit to give room to the great performances he gets from Leo DiCaprio, Matt Damn, Alec Baldwin, Mark Walhberg, Martin Sheen and newcomer Vera Farmiga.
This is totally my kind of film. There are some shocking plot twists, some funny bits of dialogue and a great premise about two undercover moles who are searching for each other not knowing who the other actually is. Undercover cop stories allow for some great scenes of soul searching and struggle with self-identity. Here things even get to the point where Matt Damon, a cop on the take, ends up having to find a mole in his unit, the mole actually being himself. It's a paradox that reminds me of Philip K. Dick's A Scanner Darkly, which I read recently, where an undercover narc has to keep tabs on his own alias. This film also deals with the old intriguing spy-who-came-in-from-the-cold trope of an undercover agent who is so deep undercover that only a couple of people know who he really is. And what happens if those people are suddenly gone?
I really loved this film and look forward to seeing the original on which it was based, the 2004 Hong Kong film Infernal Affairs.
Like a lot of people who pay attention to these kinds of things I'm very interested in the search for The Great 9/11 Novel. It is the big event of our times and we're starting to see a variety of authors try to tackle the subject. Probably the first notable 9/11 novel is this book which came out a couple of years ago.
It is the story of Oscar Schell, a precocious 9 year old who idolizes Stephen Hawking, plays the tambourine and loves all things French. He also really loved his father who died in the World Trade Center on 9/11. Oscar's father used to challenge him with scavenger hunts across Central Park and fairy tales about the forgotten 6th borough of New York. A year after his death, Oscar discovers an envelope inside a vase in his father's closet. It contains a key and has the word "Black" written in red marker on it. Determined to learn the mystery of what his father has left behind, Oscar goes on a journey to find the lock that this key opens.
Oscar's journey takes him across all the boroughs of New York as he visits everyone in the phonebook with the last name of Black. Each Mr. and Mrs. Black he meets is more interesting than the next. Each has a story of their own and Oscar's open and inquisitive nature is what gets him inside each of their lives.
I loved this book and I loved the character of Oscar. He's too smart for his own good but he's still filled with the hopeful optimism of a child even though 9/11 has taken away a lot of his childhood innocence. As a 9/11 book it certainly deals with the grief that many people experienced that day. When Oscar listens to the answering machine messages his father left from the WTC you share the same chills that Oscar is feeling. The book is probably successful as a 9/11 novel because it doesn't try to view that day from a level any higher than Oscar's vantage point.
My only problem with the book is that the narrative is broken up among three characters: Oscar, his grandmother and his grandfather. When the other two were telling their story I found myself bored, waiting for Oscar to return, and also at times annoyed by the affected literariness of the grandparents thought patterns and dialogue especially when speaking to each other. Having the grandmother describe her first sexual experience in a letter to her grandson was too weird to be believed. It's one of those instances when the literary device of writing a letter stops making sense if you keep in mind who the letter is being written to. However, once their stories began to intersect more with the main Oscar story I started to forgive how close they brought me to disliking the book.
One bit of disappointment I felt with this book is that I choice to listen to the audiobook rather than read it. About halfway through I decided to take a look at the book in the store and found it was filled with visuals (gimmickry maybe, but still) that you miss out on by merely listening.
]]>