A bewildering assortment of thoughts and half-thoughts about dozens of subjects.
A massive compendium of the author’s thoughts on society, religion, and other topics.
In this follow-up to Science, Religion, Politics, and Cards (2023), Blair presents his thoughts on a wide variety of subjects, from incidents in history to aspects of religion and spirituality. Despite the author’s attempts to broaden his focus, virtually everything in these pages remains intensely personal, oriented entirely around Blair’s own thoughts and experiences, often delivered in fragments and without any context. Long breakdowns of various religious concepts jostle against hand-drawn alternate Tarot cards and single-paragraph reviews of movies (about 2023’s Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, Blair enigmatically writes, “Extraordinarily expressive virtually any way a person can behold it if the viewer does not feel jolted by implications”). The prose often reads oddly, as when the author describes the Oneida Colony as existing in “something like the Nineteenth Century” (it existed in the 19th century) in “something like upstate New York” (it was located in upstate New York) “an extremely long time ago” (it ended in 1875). Many of his reminiscences included here are abbreviated, incomplete, or jarringly self-incriminating. When someone asks Blair a pro forma question about what sets him apart from other people, his response is, “That is on a need-to-know basis, and you don’t need to know it at this time. If someday a situation happens such that you wind up needing to know that, then maybe you will wind up knowing it then.”
At the beginning of this book, Blair includes a note advising his readers that they need not have read its preceding volume to appreciate this present work. Although this is true in terms of continuity of content, familiarity with the first book would at least prepare the reader for the hyperactive delivery, abundance of material, and near-complete incoherence that characterize this project. The text essentially reads like an 800-page private diary, consisting mostly of transcribed notes from the author to himself. In 2010, for instance, he attends Olivia Newton-John’s keynote speech for Integrative Health in Westchester, Pennsylvania. Rather than describe the speech (or include a transcript), Blair reproduces the thoughts he recorded while listening “as an out-of-state visitor observing the proceedings, though remaining silent except for minimal small talk with attendees”; in other words, pages of jottings that are incomprehensible to anybody on Earth except for himself. The huge majority of the book is similarly circumscribed by the author’s solipsism. Some of the pages have illustrations by the author (and plenty of typos, like “I deliberately budded in”), and almost all of them are filled with telegraphic bits and pieces of nonsense or windy, aimless prose like, “However, I believe that there is potential value at times with if a human being, after killing an animal, rather than choosing to seek to fully eat that animal, chooses to leave some portion of the remains for whichever scavenger animals might happen to come along and eat that remainder of the remains.” Readers will find precious little to latch onto here.
A bewildering assortment of thoughts and half-thoughts about dozens of subjects.Pub Date: May 21, 2024
ISBN: 9781963470086
Page Count: 802
Publisher: Synapsid Revelations Press
Review Posted Online: Dec. 17, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A virtuoso performance and an ode to an undervalued medium created by two talented artists.
The veteran actor, comedian, and banjo player teams up with the acclaimed illustrator to create a unique book of cartoons that communicates their personalities.
Martin, also a prolific author, has always been intrigued by the cartoons strewn throughout the pages of the New Yorker. So when he was presented with the opportunity to work with Bliss, who has been a staff cartoonist at the magazine since 1997, he seized the moment. “The idea of a one-panel image with or without a caption mystified me,” he writes. “I felt like, yeah, sometimes I’m funny, but there are these other weird freaks who are actually funny.” Once the duo agreed to work together, they established their creative process, which consisted of working forward and backward: “Forwards was me conceiving of several cartoon images and captions, and Harry would select his favorites; backwards was Harry sending me sketched or fully drawn cartoons for dialogue or banners.” Sometimes, he writes, “the perfect joke occurs two seconds before deadline.” There are several cartoons depicting this method, including a humorous multipanel piece highlighting their first meeting called “They Meet,” in which Martin thinks to himself, “He’ll never be able to translate my delicate and finely honed droll notions.” In the next panel, Bliss thinks, “I’m sure he won’t understand that the comic art form is way more subtle than his blunt-force humor.” The team collaborated for a year and created 150 cartoons featuring an array of topics, “from dogs and cats to outer space and art museums.” A witty creation of a bovine family sitting down to a gourmet meal and one of Dumbo getting his comeuppance highlight the duo’s comedic talent. What also makes this project successful is the team’s keen understanding of human behavior as viewed through their unconventional comedic minds.
A virtuoso performance and an ode to an undervalued medium created by two talented artists.Pub Date: Nov. 17, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-250-26289-9
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Celadon Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 30, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2020
PERSPECTIVES
Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.
A compendium of charts, time lines, lists and illustrations to accompany study of the Bible.
This visually appealing resource provides a wide array of illustrative and textually concise references, beginning with three sets of charts covering the Bible as a whole, the Old Testament and the New Testament. These charts cover such topics as biblical weights and measures, feasts and holidays and the 12 disciples. Most of the charts use a variety of illustrative techniques to convey lessons and provide visual interest. A worthwhile example is “How We Got the Bible,” which provides a time line of translation history, comparisons of canons among faiths and portraits of important figures in biblical translation, such as Jerome and John Wycliffe. The book then presents a section of maps, followed by diagrams to conceptualize such structures as Noah’s Ark and Solomon’s Temple. Finally, a section on Christianity, cults and other religions describes key aspects of history and doctrine for certain Christian sects and other faith traditions. Overall, the authors take a traditionalist, conservative approach. For instance, they list Moses as the author of the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Hebrew Bible) without making mention of claims to the contrary. When comparing various Christian sects and world religions, the emphasis is on doctrine and orthodox theology. Some chapters, however, may not completely align with the needs of Catholic and Orthodox churches. But the authors’ leanings are muted enough and do not detract from the work’s usefulness. As a resource, it’s well organized, inviting and visually stimulating. Even the most seasoned reader will learn something while browsing.
Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2005
ISBN: 978-1-5963-6022-8
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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