‘A great first port of call’ – Marble Season by Gilbert Hernandez
Wistful but unsentimental, funny and charming, Gilbert Hernandez had a reputation that hardly needs any further cementing – but Marble Season is interesting, nevertheless, offering an alternative view of the man already feted for changing the comics landscape with his contributions to Love & Rockets. What’s more, because Love & Rockets is so monumental, which is itself offputting to anyone looking to dip their proverbial toe in the Hernandez waters to see what all the fuss is about, Marble Season is a great first port of call…
‘Screw the Guardianistas’ – Here & Now – Letters: 2008 – 2011 by Paul Auster & JM Coetzee
It was a Sunday morning. The world receded. I read and read (imagining myself, in a pub, the two of them either side, Auster smoking one of his little cigars – in my dream pub you can still smoke inside – and Coetzee nodding, perhaps, speaking less, but choosing his words carefully). It felt a curious privilege to hear Coetzee talking about Philip Roth’s Exit Ghost, Auster talking about the documentary Man on a Wire. Similarly, hilarious asides on the etymology of the word basket, admissions about the most you can expect from government (essentially non-violent succession), brief glimpses into work in progress (admittedly this is only from Auster’s side, Coetzee plays his cards close to his chest) and notions of fallibility (both Auster and Coetzee self-doubt in their own way) make Here & Now a fascinating ride.
