Books: June 2006 Archives

In the 1950s, a 50-year-old New Zealander named Tom Neale moved to a tiny island called Suwarrow (AKA Suvarov) in the Cook Islands. He was the only human inhabitant, and his story of survival is absolutely fascinating. I read Robinson Crusoe and was disappointed; An Island to Oneself is the real deal.

Neale eked subsistence out of a garden and by fishing, and carefully used his supplies of spices and tea (he used the leaves over and over again). He had zero contact with the outside world, and since Suwarrow wasn't in a shipping lane, visitors were very rare.

I wish the book had been longer -- I loved every word of it. $24.95 on Amazon or read An Island to Oneself online for free.

(Click on thumbnail for enlargement) Photo collage is an easy way to make a good-looking illustration. But without creativity and dedication, you can't use photo collage to make art. Lou Beach is the king of collage artists, because his work is clever, thought-provoking, and good-looking. As Steven Heller says in the introduction, Beach first decides what he wants to do, then finds the photo elements that will work for his idea. In other words, he is painting with cut-up pictures. The results are amazing. $16.97 on Amazon

Monte Beauchamp, editor of the wonderful comic book, Blab!, has compiled over 500 vintage matchbook covers for Striking Images. Lovingly categorized seven different chapters, the artwork is charming, funny, and inspiring. I imagine the illustrators had a terrific time drawing these covers. $11.02 on Amazon

As much as I love the classic Moleskine hardbound black journals, the newer, cheaper, cahier [kaa yáy] version is even more lovable. The raw brown cover begs to be gocco'd, silkscreened, stamped, and stickered, and the last 16 sheets of each book are detachable. They come in sets of three, and are much more affordable than the hard cover versions. $9.50 on Amazon

Like a lot of people, I became aware of the Church of the SubGenius around 1985 when Robert Crumb reproduced some of the Church's pamphlets in Weirdo #1.

I immediately felt an affinity for the sacred teachings of J.R. "Bob" Dobbs, which were a playful mockery of Discordianism, Hassan-i-Sabah, Gurdjieff, Aliester Crowley, and secret societies like the Rosicrucians, the Golden Dawn, the O.T.O, and the Shriners.

The church appealed to fans (like me) of Robert Anton Wilson's conspiracy parody novels and non-fiction writings that forever bounced back and forth between facing mirrors, one labeled BULLSHIT, the other DEEP TRUTH. Hidden in all the wild jokes and insanely detailed illustrations (contributed by wonderful underground comic book artists) is a healthy skepticism for the status quo.

About 15 years ago I interviewed Peter Lambhorn Wilson (AKA Hakim Bey), the author of T.A.Z.: The Temporary Autonmous Zone and he told me that the Church of the SubGenius was a real religion, and that the joke element was a smokescreen to befuddle the pinks and glorps (SubG speak for rubes and authoritarian personalities). I think he was right. The Church of the SubGenius comes as close to a religion as I'll ever have. $11.02 on Amazon

First published in 1959, this is the kind of chemistry book you dream of as kid - purple smoke bombs, explosions, color-changing liquids, expanding foams, spontaneous flames. I remember reading this book as a kid and wanting to try the experiments, but didn't know where to get (and couldn't afford) the required chemicals. The gov't has made it harder to get some chemicals and galssware, thanks to Timothy McVeigh and speed lab morons, but you can get a lot of the stuff you need on eBay. $6.95 on Amazon

Simon Quellen Field's Gonzo Gizmos is probably my favorite science experiment book, because he shows you how to make exciting things that spark, float, explode, make noise, and jump, like Van de Graaff generators and working radios out of stuff you can find in your house.

Even the projects that require more exotic materials (such as bismuth and pyrolytic graphite) are easy to make and have a high bang for the buck ratio. You can find out more about Field's experiments (and buy supplies and materials) at his website, scitoys.com. $11.53 on Amazon.com

Dan DeCarlo was best known for his sexy renditions of Betty and Veronica from Archie comics, but he also had a full career as a pinup and gag cartoonist. This giant-sized, lovingly designed homage to DeCarlo has gorgeous reproductions from every phase of DeCarlo's career, including great watercolors that he painted on envelopes while he was stationed overseas. One of the most imitated cartoonists in the world, it's a treat to see all this previously hidden material from the real McCoy. $22.02 on Amazon. (More DeCarlo on Mad Professor here.)