Quickies: Lucky Alan & Sex Criminals Vol. 1

Lucky Alan and Other Stories by Jonathan Lethem

Publisher/Year: Doubleday, 2015
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 157
Source: Publisher

What it is: A slim collection of quirky short stories.

Why I read it: I like short stories, and I also had the pleasure of hearing Lethem at a Literary Death Match a couple of years ago when he was promoting Dissident Gardens.

What I thought: This was actually my first time reading Lethem’s work. I usually love stories with surreal elements. I can see the appeal, and I love his writing style, but most of the stories in this collection just didn’t do it for me. My favorites were probably the title story, and “The King of Sentences,” about an author’s superfans who take things too far. Other stories, like “Pending Vegan,” had elements that I loved, but some stories were a chore to read and most were simply forgettable.

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Sex Criminals: Vol 1 by Matt Fraction (Author) & Chip Zdarsky (Artist)

Publisher/Year: Image Comics, 2014
Format: Paperback
Pages: 128
Source: Library

What it is: Suzie has a strange gift: she stops time whenever she has sex. When she hooks up with Jon after a party, they’re both in for a shock: both of them are still moving around post-climax. It turns out Jon has the same supernatural abilities as Suzie, but neither had ever met anyone like themselves before. And what’s a young time-stopping couple to do with this amazing gift of theirs? Rob banks, of course!

Why I read it: It sounded awesome.

What I thought: It was awesome, duh. I realize it’s not a book for everyone, but I loved the humor and the gorgeous artwork (check out some images after the jump) and the fact that there are Sex Police who smack people with dildos. Yeah. It’s that kind of story. Some of it’s a little hokey, but that just adds to the book’s charm. I kind of felt like a pervert requesting it at the library, but it was worth it.