Harvey Pekar

Harvey Pekar, the author of the classic comic book series and subsequent graphic novels, American Splendor, has passed away.  His works are often filled with lonely, depressed characters, somehow managing to just get through life day by day.  A film was made of American Splendor, with actor Paul Giamatti expertly portraying Pekar's sad-sack personality.  We have several of his titles in the library's collection, including Studs Terkel's Working: A Graphic Adaptation and The Beats: A Graphic History. 

Time for poetry

The Library of Congress just announced that W.S. Merwin is the 2010-2011 U.S. poet laureate.  We have many of his titles in the collection, so this is a good time to peruse the Dewey 800s - they need love too, you know.

Roses are red
Green is a lime
Merwin's much better
Than this silly rhyme

Piece of cake

I just love the title of Aimee Bender's latest book - The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake.  It has been receiving quite a bit of press which has resulted in heavy demand, so if you're on the waiting list for it, you might want to check out Aimee's web site, www.flammableskirt.com.  She has done some very creative things on her site, including fun graphics, writing exercises, links to interviews, etc.  The library has her previous titles (as of this morning, two titles have holds, but The Secret Society of Demolition Writers and The Girl in the Flammable Skirt had copies available), so you might want to take a dip into one of these titles while waiting for Lemon Cake.  Ok, the more I say "lemon cake," the more I'm starting to crave lemon cake.  Books that make you want to eat - that could be an interesting list...