Lower East Side Librarian

I was not engaged in the fat envelope frenzy myself, which in retrospect I think is a little sad. I wish I'd worked harder in high school, and had people supporting and encouraging me, and better Guidance. (If they'd told me to fill out one freakin' form, I could have had a scholarship, but because I was in a vocational program--performing arts--I missed the college prep sessions. That's pretty bad, right? Granted more of us kids in the arts that rode the tech bus were probably headed to college than those going to auto mechanics and cosmetology programs, but there's a bit of a chicken and egg argument to be made.) I probably ended up in the right place for what I needed--smallish school, college town, but sometimes I wonder... My nephew made a comment when he was a high school senior that it doesn't matter/schools are all the same, or some such thing. I hated to burst his bubble, but that is simply not true. I think all schools have different things to offer, not so much that they're better or worse than one another. But it's easy for me to speak about college admission from the distance of twenty plus years after writing my applications.

Johanna, one of my favorite zine publishers, hadn't made a zine since issue 4 of Sisu came out in May 2006. For some reason, although I acquired No History, No Self from StrangerDanger back in November, I didn't get around to reading it until just now. (I have a serious cataloging backlog problem, which I hope to clear up by the end of the year!) I'm a fool for letting it go so long, but at least I finally read it. Like all of Johanna's zines, NHNS has strong political content, particularly regarding race, mixed race identity, and identity politics. She has put in her time as an activist and has plenty of cred in that arena (also in feminist science-fiction and vegan communities), so what is particularly affecting to me in this new zines venture is how personal and open she is, about missing New York, trying to make friends, being depressed and contemplating therapy. She lists some great self-care suggestions for dealing with depression, the top three being sleep, cats, and tea, things I can totally get behind. That emphasis on self-care I think in this case extends to the rest of the world. NHNS is gentler than its predecessors. Johanna, who doesn't suffer fools lightly, is more inwardly focused this time around, maybe because repatriated to the UK she's missing her friends from home around whom she can actually be herself. Reading this zine I wanted to give Johanna a hug. I also want to know when issue 2 will be out.

I snapped this book up when I encountered it I don't know where because it merges guilty pleasure and scholarly writing. Many of the essays balance the two well, but some are a little inaccessible. As with most edited volumes I skimmed or outright skipped a few entries. There is a common through line of Nancy the dull ice doll who while she didn't deserve to be clubbed she wasn't much deserving of all the accolades and endorsements she received either, vs. Tonya the admittedly troubled scrappy heroine who done her competitor wrong but sadly did not achieve her full potential.

I was pleasantly surprised to see among the contributors Abigail Feder (now Feder-Kane), Barnard's Director of Institutional Support. Her essay "A Radiant Smile from the Lovely Lady" Overdetermined Femininity in "Ladies" Figure Skating is one of the most compelling in the volume.

The third in See's mystery collection, featuring Chinese Ministry of Public Security Inspector Liu Hulan and her American spouse attorney David Spark, takes place at an archaeological dig. The Hulan is charged with solving some unexplained deaths (some of them pretty grisly, so be warned), and David with protecting China's artifacts from a greedy marketplace. There's a large cult-like religion for them to contend with as they set to their appointed tasks and also try to salvage their marriage, which took a major hit when their 3 1/2-year-old daughter died (between Dragon Bones and its predecessor The Interior.