simply put "human"

Flying Lotus, Cosmogramma (2010, Rhapsody)
Sam Lipsyte, The Ask (2010, Farrar, Straus, & Giroux)
The Album Leaf, A Chorus of Storytellers (2010, Rhapsody)

Finished The Ask. What a great little book, stuffed with hidden pockets of sheer hilarious poetry among postmodern slumpery and desperate clawing through life. I have a larger review forthcoming but let me share this interchange that made me laugh out loud, sputter even, which I guess should not be such a triumph for contemporary literature but here we are. This exchange about dreams between the protagonist and a guy from the donut shop takes place in a park in New York City.

"Was it the one where you're inside the girl and you are pumping her and pumping her and you're so happy but then it turns out it's not a girl, it's really one of those super poisonous box jellyfish, and it stings you and you are screaming and screaming and the sky rains the diarrhea of babies?"

"The...no, I don't think so."

"I get that sometimes. Anyway, see you around."

I picked up a copy of the late, great Barry Hannah's Airships from the library as a carrot to entice me to finish the stuff I'm already reading, as if I need a reason. So far I'm captivated by the graphics on the cover and the annotations penciled by a focused lit student in the table of contents



I like the simple "good", "wonderful", and "odd" written in a controlled helpful hand. I like the appearance of ✓, though I don't know if that is better or worse than the comments or no comment at all. What does it mean when you have ✓ and "good?" For "Pete Resists the Man of His Old Room," our micro-critic simply put "human."

The Album Leaf, "We Are" (Rhapsody)