Books Will Save Us

Dear friends,

One of the things that got me through the pandemic was exchanging Ouroboros pictures on Instagram with Ed Park. I’m not sure how we figured out that we both had this fascination with ouroboroses, but I know that every time I opened my messages and saw one of these . . .

. . . my day improved exponentially.

I feel indebted to Ed for my “comics journey” because he has been a supporter from the beginning. And Ed knows comics! His review of The Complete Eightball by Daniel Clowes is so masterful that I cut it out of the print version of The New York Review of Books and saved it. Since he seemed to genuinely like my Instagram comics I boldly asked him for the ultimate favor: a connection to an editor at the New York Times Book Review so that I could pitch a comic to them. (This is the comic.)

And now Ed has recently published a truly wonderful book, Same Bed Different Dreams. I love books with interweaving plot lines and SBDD is one—the stories in this book take place in different times and different countries, and yet come together seamlessly. I guess if hard-pressed I would say this book is “about” America’s relations with Korea, and the 38th parallel. The history of which I’m ashamed to say I knew nothing, and was glad to learn more about in such an entertaining fashion. But on a deeper level I felt the book was about the power of reading. I don’t mean literacy per se, but rather the alchemy that happens only when an author takes the time and care to put abstract ideas into booklength form.

In any case, when Ed casually suggested I draw a comic about his book for his newsletter, I was happy give it a try. I think it came out pretty well. I hope you enjoy it, and I hope it inspires you to buy a copy of Same Bed Different Dreams!

On another note, it has not escaped my attention that Substack has, as many have pointed out, a Nazi problem. A lot of writers I admire have left Substack as a result, and a lot of writers I admire have stayed. I’m checking out newsletter alternatives since I would rather use a platform that decisively refuses to give Nazis a voice. If I do switch in a week or two, hopefully you won’t notice any thing different!

Love,

Claire

Know anyone who might enjoy Mushroom Head? If so, please share!

ps: we just learned that tomorrow is a snow day which means the long weekend just got a little bit longer so why not take this time to bring me a little sparkle by hitting the red button. . .