Badass St. Louis

I like to see St. Louis’ return to being the “Most Dangerous U.S. City” as a badge of honor. As in, don’t mess with us, Detroit. We can whip your decentralized population numbers any day. Or, you think you’re economically depressed, Flint? Check out this loss of industrial jobs, suckas. But seriously, as a city resident I’d like to throw some civic pride out there. I think we St. Lou-sers showed our real stuff with the World Series celebrations--everybody got along didn’t they? Beyond that, the population is up, Metrolink is expanding, fall is a great time to be in the area, and when’s the last time there’s been this much construction downtown? Optimism, my friends, is the word of the day.

Needed: Loving Home for a Good Kidd

We have this big, beautiful book of the work of Chip Kidd here at the bookstore, and for some mysterious reason (or due to some evil consipracy), it's sat on the shelf for almost a year now. For those of you who don't recognize Chip's name, I'm sure you'd recognize his work anywhere. He's the dude who made book covers cool. As a matter of fact, he's been termed the "closest thing to a rock star" in the graphic design world, and probably more than once it's his sly, witty, and spot-on perfect book cover that's made you pick up a book and read the summary on the back. He's designed covers for all sorts of fancy pants (and some not so fancy pants) authors, ranging from Haruki Murakami to Michael Crichton. John Updike's said of him, "In his field - where edge, zip and instant impact are sine qua non - Kidd is second to none," and über-smart guy Oliver Sacks stipulates in his contract that Chip Kidd design his book covers. While this book is a heafty tome (I mean the guy has designed at least 75 book jackets a year), it's full of yummy color reproductions and would make a lovely Christmas present. Please! Someone take the Kidd home!

Neither snow, nor rain, nor heat, nor...

Pretty Pictures, Pretty Words

I think all of us here are fans of Penguin’s “Graphic Classics” series. Basically, Penguin is republishing some of their classic titles with brand new covers designed by well-known graphic novelists and comix artists, including Candide with art by Chris Ware, a disturbing cover for The Jungle by Charles Burns, and the master Frank Miller covering Gravity’s Rainbow. New legends Art Spiegelman, Seth, and Jason (Dharma Bums there, which is not done by Seth--I don't care what the Penguin website says) also contribute, as does Holy Consumption member Anders Nilsen. In my opinion, they’re all fantastic!

Chihuligans

While you might have to fight the cold and drunk yuppies to see it, Glass in the Garden is definitely, definitely worth your time--especially if you go on one of the Chihuly Nights. The exhibit has been extended through the end of the year, so there’s really no excuse (other than watching the rest of the World Series). Chihuly’s work is beautifully entangled with the plant life in the Climatron: glass triffids, eggs, reeds, branches, and I’m not sure what. And there is some really amazing work scattered around the grounds, too. Definitely worth the walk on one of these brisk fall nights.

2 down

1, 2, 3 Miscellany

1. Adventures in backyard living. There has been a fox pair living in Francis Park now for awhile. My wife and I have spied them in the park itself, but we were particularly pleased when recently one of them made its way into our backyard several blocks away. We tried to sit still as possible in our lawn chairs, but it eventually figured out that two humans were sitting a couple of feet away from it, and the poor thing bolted. Against nature, we were hoping that it wasn’t really stalking the cute bunny family that lives under our shed-like garage.

2. The comics life. Local-artist-made-good Brian Hurtt has a new comics series out, The Damned (available at Star Clipper). At first it seems a typical gangster story. Further investigation reveals it’s full of tales of the dead, demons, and, of course, Brian’s typically amazing artwork. As for me, I can’t wait for issue #2.

3. Used books and you. As we make the transition from our OLD office to our NEW office, several boxes of used books have surfaced. Now most of them are out on the shelves waiting for new homes--this includes fiction, cookbooks, religion titles, history, and art books. So most of those you’ll get an additional 40% off of if you come in soon. However, there’s also a full bookshelf worth of clearance titles out on the floor, and those you can get cheap! They won’t be around forever, and we’re liable to end our used book sale any day. Any day, folks!

September Creeps

Apparently folks were preparing for Halloween early this year. September’s best sellers were downright creepy: zombies, alchemy, rock ‘n’ roll deaths, evil governments, the specter of Communism, hobo rebellions, and…John Ruskin! Yikes!

September Sellers
1. Max Brooks : The Zombie Survival Guide
2. Alexander Roob : Alchemy and Mysticism
3. Chuck Klosterman : Killing Yourself to Live
4. Jim Heimann : Vintage Halloween Graphics
5. John Hodgman : The Areas of My Expertise

6. Thomas Paine : Common Sense
7. Marx and Engels : The Communist Manifesto
8. George Orwell : 1984
9. John Ruskin : On Art and Life
10. Franz Kafka : The Trial

My Latest Discovery…

…is probably not new to you. It’s the Mercantile Library at UMSL. What a bizarre place. Everything from furs to model boats and trains to then-and-now photographs of Union Station, as well as a stacked closed reading area and a deep vault of rare Missouriana. Throw in some Notgeld displays, framed historical documents, and a wonderful staff and you’ve got yourself a library (or museum or something)! I’ve been going there lately because it's the only place in the region that has a rare pulp novel from the fifties I need to read--it’s in their Utopia collection (now there’s something more libraries need to have!). But most folks come through to purchase the rights to historic photographs, images, etc. for books, journal articles, and the like. Just the other day a retired St. Louis police officer was in procuring vintage police photos for a book he’s writing on the history of crime in St. Louis (goodness knows there’s never enough attention placed on crime here). Anyway, if you need to read any utopian novels, look at model boats, or buy the rights to any photographs of historic St. Louis politicians or buildings, I suggest you head out to UMSL. And make sure you ask for Charlie Brown; he’s incredibly helpful and knows St. Louis history backwards and forwards.