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July 7, 2016
Librairie Drawn & Quarterly Books of the Week - July 7, 2016
In the weekly Librairie Drawn & Quarterly Books of the Week, the Montreal bookstore recommends several new works of fiction, art books, periodicals, and comics.
Librairie Drawn & Quarterly is one of Montreal's premiere independent bookstores.
Art & Beauty Magazine: Drawings by R. Crumb: Numbers 1, 2 & 3
by R. Crumb
Robert Crumb is an established name in comics, to say the least. In his newest graphic novel, Art & Beauty Magazine, he delves into the odd and arbitrary beauty standards over time. Each page consists of a portrait of a woman, usually with breasts bared or ass in the air, accompanied by a satirical commentary of quotes by figures ranging from Leonardo da Vinci to Andy Warhol. While the text adds much of the critique, the images also play with the boundaries of sexuality and beauty. Details like feet reaching out of the frame stray enough from the stereotypical depiction of women to draw attention to this underlying element at play.
You Are Having a Good Time
by Amie Barrodale
You may know Amie Barrodale's writing from the Paris Review, McSweeney's, The Onion, or as an editor at Vice. Her debut collection of short stories provides a glimpse into the inner lives of an assortment of characters who drink too much and say the wrong things. With writing that is funny, sharp, and charged she examines the dissonance that sounds just below the surface of everyday life.
Sex Object
by Jessica Valenti
Jessica Valenti is well known as a feminist leader and activist, but her debut novel firmly asserts her significance in the world of literature. She is able to transcend and enlighten with her own personal story, smoothly translating it into the realm of the political and existential. Valenti affirms everyday experiences with sexism as important to address, and entirely unacceptable. The certainty with which she addresses gender politics provides the reader with a unique and convincing perspective on the damaging nature of the patriarchy.
Even This Page is White
by Vivek Shraya
The invisible yet pervasive nature of whiteness is something difficult to articulate. Vivek Shraya manages to utilize words to interrogate and critique the racialized identities ingrained in our society. She addresses popular culture from hashtags like #Oscarssowhite to figures like Miley Cyrus, all in a cynical and dark tone, giving the subject matter the weight it deserves. The poems bridge the gaps between queerness,race, gender and politics, all in the context of mass culture.
But What if We're Wrong?
by Chuck Klosterman
Are there some questions you have always been asking, but were afraid to say out loud because they seemed so obvious yet idiotic? If so, Chuck Klosterman’s newest novel But What if We’re Wrong will give voice to every one of them. While with each generation, style and beliefs change, we seem to be entirely caught in the grips of the current and dominant mode of thought. A question like: “how certain are we of our understanding of gravity?”, sends the necessary jolt to the reader, forcing you to reconsider the paradigms on which you operate.
Librairie Drawn & Quarterly links:
Librairie Drawn & Quarterly's blog
Librairie Drawn & Quarterly Facebook page
Librairie Drawn & Quarterly Tumblr
Librairie Drawn & Quarterly on Twitter
also at Largehearted Boy:
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other Librairie Drawn & Quarterly Books of the Week
Online "Best Books of 2015" Year-end Lists
Antiheroines (interviews with up and coming female comics artists)
Atomic Books Comics Preview (weekly new comics and graphic novel highlights)
Book Notes (authors create music playlists for their book)
guest book reviews
musician/author interviews
Note Books (musicians discuss literature)
Short Cuts (writers pair a song with their short story or essay)
WORD Bookstores Books of the Week (weekly new book highlights)
