Sunday, December 5, 2010

THE AARDVARK #2


THE AARDVARK #2
Red Roach Press
POB 771
College Park, MD
20740
Joe Smith aka Art Vark, loves the written word, particularly when those words are written on paper, and can be found in libraries and bookstores. He has a lot of opinions and theories as to the future of this medium and shares them throughout this zine, which is mostly what this issue is about. I really enjoyed reading about this as it is something that most people who love books and zines can relate to. These opinions and theories are not knee-jerk and appear to be very well thought out with quotes and statistics punctuating many of his points. There are also some zine and book reviews and a nice intro about what it means to “follow your bliss”. As a lover of hidden bookstores in forgotten parts of town, second hand store book finds, and the great zine underground, I don’t have the same level of anxiety about the decline of the print format that Joe mourns in this zine. I do, however, appreciate his take on it and look forward to more of his words on paper.