I Was Absent Last Week But I Have a Note
King Sorrow by Joe Hill (William Morrow)
It’s called King Sorrow and it’s 880 pages. I highly recommend you read all of them. This may be the first time in my long reading life that I’ve actually said that about a novel (though that 1000+ pages biography of Mozart is suspect in the non-fiction category; his fart jokes were good but I’m not sure we needed a historical record of every single one of them. On the other hand, it’s nice to know that my friend Alice and I are right about a good fart joke enduring the test of time). Anyway. The five of you who actually read these know it’s not at all rare for me to complain about 300 page books being too long so take the above as my highest endorsement of Hill’s newest, and perhaps most magical tome thus far. Why magical? Because here there be a dragon and he is an absolute asshole - when I saw Hill on the Pittsburgh stop of his book tour, he likened dragons to cats of which I have two I would die for and I about which I agree wholeheartedly - and yet still the stuff of dreams, even if they are nightmares. King Sorrow is a creature who can solve your problems for a price, who wields teeth and claws as his weapons, but also words, and it was that last one that fascinated me most, because I’ve read plenty of stories about wise dragons and greedy dragons and menacing dragons but trickster dragons? That’s new and King Sorrow is very much a malicious avatar of Loki; Jormungandr given wings, set loose, and told to have at it.
This adventure through decades perused by scaly bear, however, asks some very important questions of its core group of six humans: what are we capable of when backed into a corner and what are we capable of pretending we don’t see, don’t hear if it saves our asses? What burdens are we willing to take on in exchange for freedom? What happens when it turns out we aren’t free? What will we do for love, for guilt, for hate? Does intention matter when the result is murder? Does being a good person give you the right to be judge and jury? Can hundreds of good needs make up for a few terrible ones? Are you responsible for being duped or did you just not look hard enough?
King Sorrow is the human conscience on a grand scale, fiction that delves into the reality of who we are, how we got where we are, and serves as a reminder that change is always possible but once the dragon is out of the pocket dimension, there will be sacrifice involved. That admitting your mistakes is hard and that people may or may not forgive you but ultimately, your redemption is for you and no one else. And that’s okay. Because it’s not a performance or a purchase. It’s yours. And you can take it with you.
King Sorrow: https://bookshop.org/a/56337/9780062200600
Vagabond: A Memoir by Tim Curry (Grand Central Publishing)
If you can listen to Vagabond, do. Curry reads it with his eternal aplomb and immaculate comedic timing, if a bit more slowly than he might have before the 2012 stroke that paralyzed the left side of his body but neither his sense of humor nor his masterful ability to tell a story, including his own. I wish, in fact, that he were a little less humble, because there are details I’m certain he kept back out of a desire not to be seen as a braggart that I would have loved to hear.
Be warned, he announces at the outset, he is not one to kiss and tell and he sticks to that for the duration. In exchange, however, he gleefully, though in proper British fashion, will tell you who he doesn’t like and his profiles of said individuals had me, quite literally, rolling on the floor in a couple of instances.
This is a fascinating and honest memoir. Curry doesn’t hold back when discussing his less than savory habits, many of which were quite common in the industry in the 70s and 80s, and has a great laugh with the reader/listener when spinning the yarn of his rock and roll era. He includes wonderful tidbits, like Princess Diana telling him Rocky Horror, “Quite completed my education,” and how when there was a fire on the set he was working on (I’d have two nickels but it’s weird that it happened twice), his mother always called to ask if he had been smoking irresponsibly. And then of course, there were the wonderful moments of stage and screen, with co-workers he adored and that audiences loved (or sometimes hated) and unexpected interactions (I’ll save my favorite because he obviously tells it better).
This is a book to experience which is why I really do recommend listening. His life, his words, his mind… some people really do lose themselves after a stroke and we are so very lucky that Curry didn’t suffer any serious cognitive deficits and that we can pay tribute to him by listening to his memoir and telling him how much we love it while he’s still here.
So do that time warp with him.
Vagabond: https://bookshop.org/a/56337/9780306835841
And a quick manga rundown:
After We Gazed at the Starry Sky Vol. 3 (Bisco Kida) is a great wrap up to this series. Very sweet though it does have some explicit panels, so definitely not for the kiddos. There are also a couple of scenes with car accident trauma and a mention of resuscitation. Everything turns out okay in the end, though. And Tougo is the photographer for another, very special wedding. https://bookshop.org/a/56337/9798855415582
Monster and Ghost Vol. 1 (Himemiko) has really gorgeous art - it almost looks like charcoal sketches and it gives the whole book an ethereal air that runs counter to main character, Tsubaki’s, reputation as a violent delinquent - our first clue that perhaps not everything is as it seems. It also suits Kabuto, the ethereal and gentle ghost who latches on to Tsubaki, and once he does must stay near him at all times or risk dissolving into the ether. It’s Kabuto who starts to notice that while Tsubaki is often violent, there’s always another element to the story: a girl escaping the attackers his friend is beating up, a bullied classmate saved, or someone else in need finding assistance. So who is the monster really? And who is Tsubaki? https://bookshop.org/a/56337/9781427882790
The Summer Hikaru Died Vol. 1 (Mokumokuren) I know, I know. I’m super late to this one. It’s creepy as fuck and I love it. https://bookshop.org/a/56337/9781975360542
That’s it for this week! Currently reading My Documents (there’s a diacritical mark over the “M” that isn’t coming up on my keyboard) https://bookshop.org/a/56337/9780593731680 and then planning to move on to The Tainted Cup.