Ectoplasma doofus

Happy birthday, David Sylvian!

Un chien Emmylou

I saw

the best mimes of my generation destroyed by madness...

Signings 2017

Expérience, Lyon                     18.3
Super Héros, Paris                    24.3
Salon de Livre, Paris                25-26.3
Salo del Comic, Barcelona       31.3-1.4
TCAF, Toronto                         13-14.5
OCX, Oslo                                9-10.6
FIRN, Frontignan                     30.6-2.7
LICAF, Kendal, UK                 13-15.10

Some books I've read 29

Blow-Up and Other Stories by Julio Cortazar
Several good stories. Interestingly, the film Blow-Up has almost nothing to do with the short story.

A Change of Light and Other Stories by Julio Cortazar
One of his later short story collections. Not as good as All Fires the Fire, less Bunuel Twilight Zone, but I especially liked the stories Summer and Second Time Around. Several stories about illness.

Chronopios and Famas by Julio Cortazar
After only a couple of his books, I'm no expert on Cortazar, but it seems like maybe this is him at his most absurd and playful.

A Certain Lucas by Julio Cortazar
Another collection of texts rather than short stories, like C & P, some autobiographical, I would guess.

The Gluyas Williams Gallery
Glorious ligne claire drawings from Williams, especially the full page drawings. Skipped the prose from Robert Benchley

Le tunnel by Ernesto Sabato
I read this in French. Hey, it's only 140 pages. Very funny book, the first half at least, maybe less after that. An Argentine The Stranger.

Looking for the Stranger: Albert Camus and the Life of a Literary Classic by Alice Kaplan
All you ever wanted to know about this book.

Geniuses Together: American Writers in Paris in the 1920s by Humphrey Carpenter
I already knew some of this stuff, especially the Hemingway anecdotes, but Carpenter also writes about the lesser known expatriates, like John Glassco and Kay Boyle.

Bathing the Lion by Jonathan Carroll
Pretty typical from Carroll. Starts normal, then... weird stuff happens

Gus 4: Happy Clem by Christophe Blain
Blain could draw someone reading the phone book for 100 pages and it would be great.

Les voyeurs by Gabrielle Bell
Found this for 3 euros at Gibert Joseph! Bell is always worth reading.
 
Demon vol. 1 by Jason Shiga
Darkly hilarious. Jason gave me a signed copy of this book in Angoulême.

Books given up:
The Sea Came in at Midnight by Steve Erickson
At page 88. I found the book to be "edgy" to an almost cartoony degree, with death, drugs and sex from page 1. And it starts with  a Kierkegaard quote. I guess Nick Cave asked for too much.

If On a Winter's Night a Traveller by Italo Calvino
At page 94. Just lost interest. I might pick it up again later.

Soon, soon...

Hipster doofus 4

Hipster doofus 3

Hipster doofus 2

Hipster doofus

Top 10 records, late teens

Yes, that old facebook thing.

The Smiths: Hatful of Hollow
Nick Drake: Heaven in a Wild Flower
Clannad: Magical Ring
Mathilde Santing: Water under the Bridge
Japan: Tin Drum
David Sylvian: Brilliant Trees
Leonard Cohen: Songs of Leonard Cohen
The Waterboys: A Pagan Place
Lloyd Cole and the Commotions: Rattlesnakes
Big Country: The Crossing

...and happy birthday, Paul Auster!

Happy birthday, James Joyce!

Jules 24