Unrequired Reading: October 1, 2010

Sorry about the lack of an Unrequired Reading last week. I was way too busy helping put on our conference. I’m way too busy finishing the October issue now, but I figure you deserve some of this.

Okay, this is Required — albeit depressing — Reading: my pal Mitch Prothero writes about Gaza and life under Hamas rule.

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Lefties: we’re sinister and gauche.

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I was hoping Hadji Murat would make this list.

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Between thought and expression lies . . . a parking lot.

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Jim Woodring: real genius.

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Jimmy Olsen: not exactly genius, but pretty awesome.

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Oh-oh-OH Canada!

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I thought women’s runway shows were supposed to be outrageous, impossible fashions, but the stuff in this D&G show looks publicly wearable. (And, MAN, are these girls gorgeous.)

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Going to St. John’s College was the best choice I ever made.

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The real Withnail: he’s no Richard E. Grant, but hey.

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Zeppelin Led: the tippy-top of the Empire State Building.

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No Nachos Galacticos?

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I have a feeling the humidity in Costa Rica would wreak havoc on all those books, but this house is still bee-yoo-tiful.

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Don’tletthishappentotheYankees. Don’tletthishappentotheYankees. Don’tletthishappentotheYankees.

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There are many reasons I have no interest in reading Freedom, the new Jonathan Franzen novel. First and foremost is that I thought The Corrections was lightweight and dull, and that critics who praised it were unjustifiably trying to make it An Important Novel Of Our Time so that they could feel like they were part of something important. But one of Franzen’s literary idols, William Gaddis, once wrote something to the effect of alchemy being useless in an age where there is no gold. Anyway, here’s B.R. “A Reader’s Manifesto” Myers’ takedown of Freedom, and Jessa “Bookslut” Crispin’s explanation of why she doesn’t plan to read the book. Me? I’m gonna get back to Homer and Jaime Hernandez.

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Okay, before I go: Mick Foley meets Tori Amos (not in a steel cage).