#20

I grew to hate my job at Borders after 3/4ths of a decade, but I often miss working in a bookstore because I like knowing what's new and what's hot and all that jazz and for the past 7 years I've been woefully out of touch.

I went to Daedalus the other day and found The Best American Comics 2006 for $3. I was totally unaware there was such a series.

Harvey Pekar did the choosin', and I think he done a fine job. Many of the pieces are quite touching ("Dancing with the Ventures" and "Portrait of My Father" and "13 Cats"), some are bizarre and challenging ("Rabbithead") and almost all of them are quite good excepting a handful of filler. I think this selection (topped off by a great R. Crumb strip about his relationship with his brother) is better than the last four or five Best American Short Stories volumes I read; I stopped reading those about five years ago because the stories were boring me to tears. But I will pick up more of these comics annuals if I see them cheap and/or used.