The Exegesis of Philip K. Dick

Based on thousands of pages of typed and handwritten notes, journal entries, letters, and story sketches, The Exegesis of Philip K. Dick is the magnificent and imaginative final work of an author who dedicated his life to questioning the nature of reality and perception, the malleability of space and time, and the relationship between the human and the divine. Edited and introduced by Pamela Jackson and Jonathan Lethem, this will be the definitive presentation of Dick’s brilliant, and epic, final work. more…

The Empire of Death

Until I picked up The Empire of Death, I had only a vague idea of what a Charnel House was, let alone that some were still active in Europe till the 1950s. Koudounari’s comprehensive collection of photographs and history left me gobsmacked. We (I) tend to associate the cult of the dead to more exotic cultures like Mexico, but the extraordinary use of bones to decorate and build temples has to be seen to comprehend. more…

The Angel Esmerelda by Don DeLillo

The Angel Esmerelda is a collection of DeLillo short stories that span from the late 1970s to 2011. DeLillo is considered one of the great writers of the late 20th/early 21st century and this collection works all the themes and content that we love him for – the individual in western society, notions of the image in culture, isolation and community. For DeLillo fans this collection will satisfy, for new readers it is a great sampler of what he is capable of. more…

Beard

The little-known ‘World Beard and Moustache Championship’ is vigorously contested every two years. This year’s event was hosted by Norway, but photographer Matthew Rainwaters went along to the 2009 event in Alaska to document this celebration of all things hirsute. Beard captures the category winners as well as the Rainwaters particular favourites. The Europeans do particularly well in the more expressive, creative designs, while the Americans tend to dominate the more traditional, lumberjack styles. As well as being a humorous book of eccentric whiskers, this is an excellent book of portraiture. With Perth’s current facial hair trend continuing to gather pace, this little book is a must for hipsters.

The 2013 championships are destined for Germany & it’s time for Australians to take the Ned Kelly to the battle. And with the 2015 championship already confirmed for Austria, I think it’s time for Australia – no Perth – to start campaigning for the 2017 championship. We could combine it with PIAF! You know it would put Perth on the map. The categories are on their website, get growing. Remember gents (& hirsute ladies) facial hair needs combing & cleaning too.

The Art of the Racing Motorcycle

The Art of the Racing Motorcycle: 100 Years of Designing for Speed by Phillip Tooth is a lovingly compiled catalogue of cool bikes for real hipsters. No hogs, no bogs, just fit racing bikes – from Indian 8-valves to the Japanese racers of the 70s & 80s.

The dynamic between competition and design has produced a century of great racing bikes from Europe to USA to Japan. Included in this heavily illustrated book are 50 classic bikes with a history of each and stunning detailed photography. Includes bikes from Manon, Norton, Peugeot, Velocette, Guzzi, Ducati, Honda, Yamaha, and more…

“No Mercy” Life on the Roller Derby Track by Jules Doyle

From the first time Jules Doyle (aka Axle Adams) went along to a Roller Derby bout in Seattle in 2006 he was hooked. He started taking photos from the suicide seats trackside &, six years later, No Mercy catalogues over 350 images of the modern version of this growing sport. Capturing all the big hits, the jams, the blocking, this is a great memento of a sport that is growing in popularity here in Oz. It shows the sports colourful side – the makeup, the gear, the tatts, the fiesty sexiness, as well as its genuine athleticism. Doyle photographed more than 70 leagues so the book also acts as a modern history of the sport. This one’s for femmes with grunt, and men ‘man enough’ to deal with women of steel.

Antonio Lobo Antunes’s “The Land at the End of the World”

The Land at the End of the World is set in Angola during Portugal’s colonial wars there. The narrator, much like the author, is a physician who is conscripted to fight in an unpopular, unwinnable, morally questionable war. The narrator recounts his war stories to any woman, at any bar, who will listen to his rambling recounts of the horrors he experienced there. Part of the interest for me lies in the unfamiliarity of this particular historical episode. Angola is obviously burnt into the Portuguese psyche in a the way that Vietnam continues to haunt American contemporary culture. And End of the World reads very much like a contemporary Heart of Darkness cum Apocalypse Now with decaying bodies, haunted villagers, and the coarse brutalities and banalities of war. more…

Dork Diaries

Dork Diaries by Rachel Renee Russel

New school, new crush, new mean girl, new diary. So Nikki can spill all about it! When Nikki Maxwell moves to a new school she writes in her new diary. She has ended up in the one of the worst ever locker spots next to her archenemy Mackenzie Hollister and her best friend Jessica. Luckily she finds two more friends and they become her best friends – their names are Zoey and Chloe, & they’re both very dorky. They get up to all types of mischief like…………… winding up doing (or making up) “Ballet of the Zombies” when they should have been doing “Swan Lake” and got a D. And like the time they got stuck in Mackenzie Hollister’s room and almost got caught. Her little sister Briannna is afraid of the tooth fairy.

I think it’s one of the best book’s I’ve read - and there is 2 and a half more books from this series!

By Lucinda Sheardown

Juxtapoz Illustration 2

Just landed! The most recent in the Juxtapoz collected series. I’ve been promising it since mid-year but the good folk at Juxtapoz move to thier own beat. Fortunately it’s a beat worth getting on. Picking up from where Juxtapoz Illustration 1 finished up, volume 2 presents a great range of west coast (US) artists as well as a spread from around the world, including such favourites as Gary Taxali, Dalek, and Sksi as well as some new stuff (to me) that’s great such as Ian Johnson.

Japanese Illustration Now

Japanese artists are at the forefront of contemporary illustration. This collection from Thames & Hudson showcases the work of 100 contemporary illustrators encompassing styles from ukiyo-e to manga, the classic to the street. With over 800 illustrations, essays and profiles, this is a great overview of the scene in Japan.