A Picture's Worth A Thousand Words

Mashup culture is alive and kicking (just listen to Girl Talk's new album All Day for evidence) and here's another by-product of mixing previously separated entities: Picture This, the new half-memoir, half-comic-workbook from renowned cartoonist Lynda Barry (and published by hip Canadian publishing imprint Drawn & Quarterly). From advice on what kind of doodles help inspire new ideas, to absurdest paintings of cigarette-smoking squids, the whimsical, autobiographical, thoroughly entertaining and heartfelt tome is full of cool stuff.

The holidays are upon us -- Picture This would make a fantastic gift for anyone, whether the aspiring comic book artist or your run-of-the-mill daydreamer. Want more? Here's a cool interview Barry recently did with The Paris Review.

Text Molly O'Brien

Let Freedom Ring

It’s finally autumn. As soon as we’re done with mourning beach days and warm night breezes, we can start worshipping those fall nights when all you want to do is curl up with a mug of hot cider and a good book. One literary recommendation is the book of the season (it seems book releases have the tendency to mimic fashion trends), Freedom by Jonathan Franzen. It has been getting mostly glowing reviews from independent bloggers and the Guardian alike. Franzen’s story of surburban couple Patty and Walter Berglund is refreshingly contemporary, referencing marital strife and Bush-era politics; plus, Oprah chose it as her latest Book Club pick, and you can’t deny the power of Oprah. Hah!  Give it a read and tell us what you think!

Text Molly O'Brien