a review of
Lower East Side Librarian Winter Solstice Shout Out. Contact Jenna Free at leslzine–at–gmail–dot–com for barter to library workers; $3 to everyone else.
With the new age personal ‘zine found on blogs and in online journals, the photocopied pamphlet as personal soapbox has become a novel antiquity. But in all its cut-and-paste glory, Jenna Free’s annual Shout Out is the best of what this genre can and should be.
While I wait for my 2005 edition to arrive, some highlights of the 2004 edition include: the intricate “reading log,” serving as a resource guide and whirlwind of capsule reviews; the “I Don’t Understand” and “Good Stuff” lists, especially “I don’t understand why some couples share an email account when everyone can have his or her own for free.”
While the media pontificates about the late-December battle between faux-Christian-consumer piety and all-out pagan decadence, I’m thrilled that I have friends engaged in seasonal subversions.