Let’s take a quick look to see what’s arrived at the Geek Compound.
Hand-Drying in America: And Other Stories
by Ben Katchor
Promo copy:
From one of the most original and imaginative American cartoonists at work today comes a collection of graphic narratives on the subjects of urban planning, product design, and architecture—a surrealist handbook for the rebuilding of society in the twenty-first century.
Ben Katchor, a master at twisting mundane commodities into surreal objects of social significance, now takes on the many ways our property influences and reflects cultural values. Here are window-ledge pillows designed expressly for people-watching and a forest of artificial trees for sufferers of hay fever. The Brotherhood of Immaculate Consumption deals with the matter of products that outlive their owners; a school of dance is based upon the choreographic motion of paying with cash; high-visibility construction vests are marketed to lonely people as a method of getting noticed. With cutting wit Katchor reveals a world similar to our own—lives are defined by possessions, consumerism is a kind of spirituality—but also slightly, fabulously askew. Frequently and brilliantly bizarre, and always mesmerizing, Hand-Drying in America ensures that you will never look at a building, a bar of soap, or an ATM the same way.
Brilliance
by Marcus Sakey
Border Run
Promo copy:
There is a war happening right now on the Arizona/Mexico border. Choose your side.
Academy Award® nominee Sharon Stone stars as Phoenix television reporter Sofie Talbert, a hard-nosed right-wing journalist who exposes liberal politicians soft on illegal immigration. But when her relief-worker brother goes missing in Mexico, Sofie’s own south-of-the-border investigation traps her in a deadly underworld of migrants, smugglers and cold-blooded murder. Here, nothing is what is seems. Nobody should be trusted. And when one woman crosses the line, there can be no turning back. Billy Zane (TITANIC) co-stars in this gritty and intense drama inspired by true events.