Reading Log: July 2022

Books acquired: “Without Apology,” Jenny Brown

Books read: “Without Apology,” Jenny Brown; “The Portable Conrad,” Joseph Conrad; “Steve Gerber: Conversations,” Jason Sacks, editor; “Explore Riverside Together,” Lorna Jenkins; “Titus Andronicus,” William Shakespeare; “Kim,” Rudyard Kipling

Wasn’t I just here writing a Reading Log? July must have been a short month. It feels like it went by like that [snaps fingers]. Just kidding: Due to technical problems, June’s Reading Log was posted on June 24, and here is July’s already, knocked out early due to vacation.

Let’s get to it.

“Without Apology” (2019): A very readable look at the history of abortion (did you know it was legal in the U.S. until 1873? I didn’t) and an argument that we should aim high, demanding maximum freedom for reproductive rights, not engage in apologetic, euphemistic talk about “choice.” Stirring and enlightening. (Bought this month via Amazon after passing up a copy on display in St. Louis and regretting it.)

“Portable Conrad” (1969): I liked Conrad after reading “Heart of Darkness,” “The Secret Agent” and “Under Western Skies” in a college class but hadn’t pursued him further in all the years since. This 750-page anthology fleshes him out further via a selection of stories; a short novel, “Typhoon”; and a long novel, “Narcissus” (plus “Heart”). The 50-page intro is a bit much (I read it on Super Bowl Sunday 2021 and set the book down for more than a year), and I could have done without the letters at the close. But this survey made for compelling reading and deepened my appreciation of his work. (Bought in 2004 from Glendale’s Brand Books, RIP.)

“Steve Gerber: Conversations” (2019): Gerber remains my favorite comics writer (Marvel’s Howard the Duck, The Defenders, and other off-kilter efforts), so my interest is obvious and unabashed. That such a book exists — a compendium of interviews with a second-tier comic book writer (and first-rate talent) — is nothing short of miraculous. So was my spotting the book at a comic shop. I didn’t know of the book and have not seen a copy or heard of it since; score one for the serendipity of brick and mortar shops. The interviews can be repetitive, and it’s too bad there weren’t more (if they exist) from his 1970s heyday. But his wit, intelligence and prickliness jump off the page. Tragically, my own Comics Buyer’s Guide phone interview with Gerber from 1988 either didn’t make the cut or is lost to history. (Bought in 2019 from Portland’s Floating World Comics.)

“Explore Riverside Together” (2020): An A to Z (well, A to W) capsule guide to places around Riverside, California’s 11th largest city and the largest in the Inland Empire. Lots I didn’t know, but now I do. If I don’t, at least I have an alphabetized reference book to remind me. (Gift of the author in 2021.)

“Titus Andronicus” (1594): Shakespeare’s first attempt at a tragedy (possibly written in collaboration, some scholars say) is energetic and bloody. I can imagine Tarantino filming it. Or Monty Python. Let’s just say that the lopping off of limbs is a theme and the effect teeters between horror and gross-out comedy. Stage direction (Act 3, Scene 1): “Enter a messenger with two heads and a hand.” (Part of my 1985-bought “The Riverside Shakespeare” omnibus but read via a Pomona Public Library borrow.)

“Kim” (1901): Kim O’Hara is a wonderful shape-shifter, donning disguises, adopting accents, transcending all he encounters, bridging two worlds, and several of the supporting characters, esp. Hurree Babu, are great fun. India is rendered lovingly. But rarely did I find myself caught up by the story, and some of the Orientalism is embarrassing to read, as is how, in Kipling’s world, colonialism is a given. (Bought in 2011 at the Borders closeout sale.)

Conrad and “Without Apology” were my favorites this month; obviously I can’t recommend the Gerber book to the masses, but I liked it too.

What did you read in July, everyone? Share in the comments section, please. And aside from the comments, I’ll see you in a month. A full one.

Next month: Nighttime is the right time.

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