Maleka Fruean

The Book Bindery

gwen — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 08:00:00 +0000

I just read a wonderful interview with the great poet Martin Espada, in which he talks about the beauty found in writing on all kinds of subjects. Espada himself has worked as a bouncer, a gas station attendant, and everything in between. His words immediately rang in my mind as I sat and devoured Sarah Royal's anecdotes on working in an actual book bindery in an industrial section of Chicago. Her descriptions about the place itself are fascinating—full of dust, ink, large copiers, and smells reeking from all areas of the work environment. I could immediately imagine what it was like to work there, based on Royal’s vivid details. Royal also describes the surrounding areas of the book bindery—where the piles of detritus can create a sweet altar of art on the book bindery's windowsill, where a naked man parks in the back lot and lives for a few days, and where the neighbors run an auto shop that never seems to fix any cars. The stories range from hilarious to a quirky kind of sad and feature fascinating characters—the large dysfunctional family that works at the book bindery and everyone Royal meets through her lengthy commute to her job—as well as a location that seems like a character in and of itself. There's the boss in drag and his brother, who are former alcoholics; a mix of folks who have hooked up with each other, used to be married, have kids together, or are somehow related; and the infamous crazy girl that sits on the bus with Royal as often as she can and tries to break down the mysteries of life with her.

I relate to her mindless drinking of the sludge they call coffee at the bindery and bitching about the bosses in everyday banter with the other employees. I relate to using arts and crafts projects and other creative pursuits to break up the monotony of a job. I used to work at Wawa (for anyone that doesn't live in the northeast U.S., it's a big chain convenience store) and would create all kinds of songs and beats while slicing huge slabs of pink meat behind the deli. I would entertain all the other Wawa employees with imaginary stories and daydreams while filling the walk-in cooler. I think a good deal of folks can relate to this kind of behavior while working the drudgery of their daily job. And that's why these little stories are so satisfying. They're real slices of life, and as poet Espada says, "It's easy to write about the working class in the abstract, but that impulse tends to produce bad poetry. It's very different to write about working class people in terms of the work they do."

Written by: Maleka Fruean, March 30th 2011

Sub Rosa

gwen — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 20:00:00 +0000

By Amber Dawn

Arsenal Pulp Press

The story of Sub Rosa is bizarre, surreal, intensely wonderful, and horrible at the same time. You must read this with an open mind and heart. The story focuses on Little, a runaway girl who is lost in the world and herself, who gets rescued by a "daddy" and whisked away to the land of Sub Rosa, a magical street of Glories and their working families. Glories are sex workers with charms—they all have different magical powers. There's always food and sunny days on Sub Rosa—no one gets killed or cries. You're taken care of. But there is an underlying feeling of loss on Sub Rosa, too. Your real name can be forgotten, and cherished memories of your life before coming to Sub Rosa are hard to dig up. You're protected on Sub Rosa, but you still lose your identity. There's plenty of work, filled with "live ones" (johns) and some of the nights detailed in the story seem to drain all the energy and power out of the girls. They are empowered though, by the large sums of cash they receive and the ability to heal the live ones and make them "right" again.

I embraced these characters. They are decked with butterfly adornments and glitter make-up, eat pastries from a bakery called Babycakes, and wash and buy their gorgeous clothes out of the most appealing sounding laundromat I've ever heard of. They study science and marine biology. They live on a street where people make offerings to the tar patches in front of their houses. There was so much weird beauty in their existence. At the same time, I felt weighed down by their constant need for attention from the men, both the daddies (pimps) and the lives ones. I had to think about this journey again and again. Do Little and the rest of the Glories really live a life of salvation? What I realized is that I don't think that's the main point of this story. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that this magical tale of prostitutes and a street where goodness prevails is showing the light and dark of sex work. It's where the grit of working streets becomes a fantasy rich with complexity. A hint of glow-in-the-dark nail polish flashes through my mind, the smell of freshly laundered dresses. Little's story and the rest of the Glories' stories continue to stay with me, a testament to Amber Dawn's vivid storytelling.

Written by: Maleka Fruean, March 24th 2011

Zinester's Guide to New York City

gwen — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 20:00:00 +0000

Edited by Ayun Halliday

Microcosm Publishing

I love Ayun Halliday's writing voice. It balances a small, healthy dose of making fun of oneself with a snarky and sassy perspective of the world. Her world is New York City, which she describes so well in her adventures with her husband and kids in her zine, The East Village Inky. So I knew I was in for a treat when I saw that Ms. Halliday herself cooked up this tasty guide to New York built exactly for my anarcho-feminist-who-still-watches-crappy/sexist-reality-show leanings. This is the guide to New York to use when you don't have much money, you're open to exploring, and you don't mind public transit. I was especially fond of the top 100 vegan items to consume throughout all of New York (oh, I heart you zinester Melissa Bastian...). There's information about festivals, all kinds of interesting venues for music, arts, and culture, and the atmosphere at each hot coffee shop and brunch place. Microbrews! Places that host guest bartenders! The best spots to copy your zines! It's even got cartoons and illustrations sprinkled throughout the guide, including art by one of my indie faves, Christy C. Road. It makes me want to live in New York (minus the high rents and New York attitudes).

If you need any more convincing to use this honest-to-goodness, made-on-paper guide instead of just doing a random Google search before you hit up Brooklyn or any other New York neighborhood, consider a few things. What Google map will be hand drawn and point out adorable facts like a water taxi that's free on weekends? What other city guide will give little anecdotes on street pole art and advice on how to make your own? And where else can you find gracious knowledge on everything from hostess gifts (edible items from throughout New York are safe bets) to scenic views to photobooth spots? I'm in love with this guide, and I guess I'm a little in love with New York, too.

Written by: Maleka Fruean, March 22nd 2011

Red Willow People

mandy — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 08:00:00 +0000

By Devreaux Baker

Wild Ocean Press

Imagine evening as a woman, wind as a friend, and every part of nature as an organ in the human body. You have now entered the landscape of Devreaux Baker’s newest collection of poetry, Red Willow People. The colors are red, white, yellow and the green shade of clay. The light is supplied by lines from poetry by Federico Garcia Lorca. The smell is sage, cedar, and pinyon pine. These poems are the story of a region, specifically Taos and the Southwestern area of the United States. They are also the story of a people, all the different clans of the Navajo (Dine’). The collection captures the essence of both the region and the people while exploring the universal themes of transformation and rebirth.

“Change wants to work her mantra into each being’s heart,” Baker notes in the poem “The Nest,” one of my favorite poems in the book. Baker describes trees as lungs, rocks as bones, and rivers as veins in the beginning of the poem. As the poem continues we see life examined through the lens of middle age, the change an individual body goes through, and at the same time the change nature goes through as Baker’s neighbor cuts down 100-year-old trees so the leaves won’t fall on his house.

These kinds of observations can be seen throughout many of the poems, full of the small and big mishandling that humans do to nature. Observations of birth and rebirth are also throughout many of the poems. At the end of “The Nest,” Baker’s calves and thighs become a nest for a little baby bird that the mother bird drops into her lap. It reminded me that even as we age and even through all the changes of this earth, there is constantly new life beginning again. And we can protect that life.

The books starts with the series of poems about the Spider Woman, a part of the Dine’ creation story who also teaches the people about weaving. It ends with a poem about coming home, a journey that took many lifetimes... “about burning all the way back to ash and then it was about becoming water, that simple.” That encapsulates this collection. Beautiful images of nature and the Southwestern landscape fuel the simple story of birth and rebirth. I always want to know what the relationship of the writer is with indigenous nations they are writing about, so I was curious about how Baker created her work which relied heavily on Dine’ myth and culture. I believe it’s literary territory that needs to be respected in a serious way, especially if you aren’t from that group of people. I think she told her story honestly in Red Willow People and showed respect for a culture that clearly inspired her greatly.

Written by: Maleka Fruean, January 25th 2011

Ripe from Around Here

barbara — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 00:00:00 +0000

By jae steele

Arsenal Pulp Press

I'm an avid vegan cookbook collector, and Ripe From Around Here is more than a vegan cookbook. jae steele, a holistic nutritionist from Toronto, offers a neat little package of sustainability, mindfulness, and the politics of food in addition to vegan gourmet recipes in the end. She really does pack it in—the first five chapters alone touch on local eating, container gardening, mindfulness, canning, natural housecleaning, worm composting (vermicomposting), and a four season overview of how to be healthy through the perspective of traditional Chinese medicine. I really enjoyed reading the paragraphs on how to eat an apple mindfully, and what to holistically focus on during each of the four seasons to promote overall well-being.

But what about the recipes? Yay! The rest of the chapters are a vegan journey, taking us through how to make your own oat milks, nut milks, and rice milks (how much more local can you get?) to West African Groundnut Stew. My mother-in-law and I tried the Tomato Chard Bake the first few days I had the book, and were definitely pleased. A little warning though... the bake took an hour to prepare. This is not fast food, folks. If you have three hungry children waiting for dinner, you have to be strategic about making these kinds of entrees.

You can definitely tell that steele is a nutrition counselor too, because many of her recipes call for spelt and oat flours, coconut oils, and other ingredients you might not immediately have lying around or can pick up at your local corner store. Some of the ingredients will be more expensive. Convenience and price are two big factors for myself and most struggling people I know. I've come to a personal revelation though that perhaps as people in the U.S., maybe we should be spending more money on the food we eat. Michael Pollan, of Omnivore's Dilemma fame, mentioned once that our portions of income on food has declined but our spending on health care has increased. Food is health care.

Ripe From Around Here comes right on time, adding to the zeitgeist of getting back to the basics, eating more locally (and with real food!), and supporting a growing sustainability movement. It can be challenging sometimes to find the time and money, but after finding ways to work it, sitting down to your own homemade Grandmother Palmer's Baked Beans (baked for over four hours!) will be worth it. Mine are just starting to simmer and they smell delicious.

Written by: Maleka Fruean, November 7th 2010