Graphic Novel – Gone To Amerikay

Posted on May 6, 2012 by Sarah

Written by Derek McCulloch; Art by Colleen Doran; Colors by José Villarrubia; Letters by Jared K. Fletcher; Edited by Joan Hilty. (Vertigo / DC Comics)

I’ve been waiting two years to see this book. I got to watch Colleen Doran working on some of the pages at the 2010 WonderCon. Now that it is finally in print, I’m happy to say that the wait was well worth it.

McCulloch’s story has the tricky task of weaving three different story lines together into one whole. And each line takes place in a different era: 1870, 1960, 2010. The immediate connection is that the main character of each line is someone from Ireland who has come to America (New York City specifically). What each of the characters seeks is different in details, but perhaps the key thematic element is the belief that in America, the seeker will have the opportunity to become more fully and truly him or herself.

McCulloch speedily launches into the parallel stories by giving the arrivals each in the opening three pages. He wants to make sure we know that we’ll be jumping around in time. But once that is set, he entwines us in the struggles of Ciara O’Dwyer and her toddler Maire when she arrives in New York City. The life she finds in 1870 is shown to be harder and colder than is told in the songs of Johnny McCormack in 1960. In 2010, Lewis Healy, billionaire, has come following the tangled threads of inspiration, hoping to unravel the mystery of the past.

The challenge for Doran is to make it clear for the reader the era of every single page. Nobody wants constant date captions interrupting the reading flow. So it is a very great pleasure that you know exactly when you are on each page. Her artwork clearly and cleanly jumps you from age to age. Additionally, Doran’s skill with expressions and body language fills each panel with life and emotion: from Ciara dreaming over the single letter from her husband to the joy Johnny has in singing.

Villarrubia uses a muted color pallette for the story, giving it soft tones that invite reflection. Yet nowhere is there anything but clarity.

A moving tale and wonderful, lyrical artwork carry the reader through the volume. Courage and endurance in the face of dispair, grace under pressure – these are characters you will care about. It is a story that spans a vast amount of time and yet remains intensely personal. Gone To Amerikay belongs in a place of respect on anyone’s shelf.

For more of Collen Doran’s amazing artwork, visit the website for her art as well as the webcomic and blog of her own space opera epic,A Distant Soil.

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Graphic Novel — Mangaman

Posted on February 13, 2012 by Sarah

Written by Barry Lyga; Illustrated by Colleen Doran

This is one very smart book. There’s no other way to say it.

Lyga has written a wonderfully layered story that playfully bends our perceptions while always charming the reader. His co-conspiritor in this mind-warping endeavor is the very talented artist, Colleen Doran. Together, they have made a book that ought to satisfy any reader.

First off, there is the surface level of the story, high school teen-aged romance. An outsider boy (Ryoko) arrives and is immediately attracted to Marissa, the most popular girl in school. She’s recently broken up with the most popular boy in school, the handsome and top-jock Chaz. Marissa fights a sense of confinement brought on by everyone’s expectations for her: they expect her to be ordinary, they expect her to get back with Chaz, they expect her to agree that Ryoko does not fit into their world. Typical teen-romance dynamics.

But Lyga and Doran spin the reader’s expectations even more by playing with the conventions of two very different styles of graphic storytelling. Because the “different worlds” of Ryoko and Marissa are quite literally (that is, by the letter) the seemingly unmixable art styles of the “western” realistic representation of humans (Marissa’s world) and the stylized exaggerations of Asian manga comics (Ryoko’s world).

Ryoko has fallen through a dimensional rip and has landed in “our” world.

To explain why I qualified that “our” would spoil your delight in first reading this story. But I will say that even though Lyga and Doran “get meta” about this form of storytelling, it never steps outside the story. It may warp your brain in how you look at the story, but they never push you out of the story. And that is quite an achievement! They playfully make the progress of the story comment upon the mechanics of the storytelling, but they never forget to keep the story moving.

For all the mind-bending, Lyga gives us a story that deals with possessiveness in relationships, one that never actually speaks of it. Instead, he lets the story carry that message. He trusts his ability to make the point without beating the reader over the head and his trust is not misplaced. Doran’s expressive art brings depth as well as beauty to the clever storytelling.

It doesn’t matter whether you like the manga style (and conventions) or not — in this book you will enjoy them. Is there anyone so hard-hearted that they cannot enjoy a charming story of young romance? I hope not. Because such a person is about the only one who won’t find something to enjoy in this book. Lyga and Doran have created a tale that does far more than respect the reader’s intelligence — it assumes you are smart enough to follow what they are up to. It never talks down to the reader, but instead consistantly delights.

I don’t know if it is possible to praise this book too much. I’ll certainly recommend it to any reader. Get it. Read it. And enjoy.

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Theatre – Yours, Isabel

Posted on February 13, 2012 by Sarah

Actors Co-op

Written by Christy Hall; Director: Marianne Savell; Heather Chesley, Rick Marcus ( February 3 through March 11, 2012)

Christy Hall’s one-act play Yours, Isabel gets a sparkling American premiere from the Actors Co-op. Director Marianne Savell keeps her two actors in motion, letting movement breathe vibrant life into a play built upon correspondence. Chesley and Marcus deliver warmth, affection, and all the stresses that this story carries, with the result that the audience cares about the story’s resolution.

Inspired by a real correspondence between a couple during World War II, Hall’s play gives us a view into the challenges women faced during those years when so much of the male workforce was elsewhere facing violence and death. Young Isabel McMeniman, a fiesty Irish-American Jersey girl has fallen for the amiable Italian-American Nick D’Angelo, who in the summer of 1941 (before Pearl Harbor) went into the Army. Their letters back and forth unfold the social changes that came to women during this period.

The script places a heavy demand upon the actress playing Isabel and Chesley rises wonderfully to the challenge. Most of the story is told through Isabel’s letters, with the epistolary narration being acted out by the letter-writer. Chesley gives Isabel a lively bounce to her personality and makes it easy for us to understand what captivated Nick in the first place. Marcus in addition to showing us a Nick worthy of Isabel’s fidelity also gets to play a fistful of other men Isabel encounters. And he makes the most of it, for you do not mistake any of these secondary characters for Nick.

The stylized set gives scope to the ranging settings fo the play: from bustling Manhattan streets to the Lincoln Memorial, from a factory office to the confined spaces of Isabel’s dying father’s home. Lighting and simple multi-levels of playing area all work to stretch our imaginations. Credit for this achievement goes to Gary Lee Reed for the set and Lisa D. Katz on the lighting.

Savell’s sure hand at direction delivers a wonderful, touching evening. Hall’s thoughtful play celebrates qualities that often get short shift in our cynical age. The cast reminds us of the beauty in being faithful and true. It’s a pleasing piece of entertainment, well worth the night out.

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Comics – Birds of Prey

Posted on October 5, 2011 by Sarah

Birds of Prey #1 (DC Comics)

Writer: Duane Swierczynski; Artist: Jesus Saiz; Colorist: Nei Ruffino; Letterer: Carlos M. Mangual; Editor: Janelle Asselin

More of DC’s “New 52.”

In reference to the company-wide re-launch, for the continuity hounds, the unevenness of what is carried forward and what is not shows up here. Previously, the Birds had been led by Barbara Gordon as Oracle, originally partnered with Black Canary and then with Huntress (Helena Bertinelli) and Lady Blackhawk as the core team. Lady Blackhawk is out of sight (I don’t know if she’s part of the Blackhawk book,  since I’m not reading that). Huntress is about to get her own mini-series (at least). Barbara Gordon disbanded the team in the old title. With the reboot, she has been cured of her paralysis and is back in action as Batgirl in her own book.

So, here, Dinah Lance has decided to put together a team. The way it is worded in the scene where Dinah talks with Barbara, it is ambiguous as to whether there was a Birds of Prey team before this moment. Dinah says “You know I’m still putting together that team.” Barbara’s response is to mention that Dinah is “wanted for murder.”

For longtime readers of BOP (which I am), at first glance this reads as a continuation of pre-relaunch continuity. The interaction between Barbara and Dinah sounds like they’d previoiusly been teammates. But a second read shows it can be taken as just a recruiting meeting, one which has Barbara turning down the partnership. The reference to Dinah being wanted for murder seems to be a hold-over from the previous series, which ended with Dinah still subject to a frame that implied she had murdered someone.

Way to have it both ways, DC. Just confuse things while you’re at it.

Anyway, this is a launch story for the new set-up, so the best way to do that is have a reporter investigate rumors of a dubious crimefighting team loose in Gotham. Because then you can put in reams of exposition. (*sigh*) And the reporter is in danger. And action happens when Dinah and her new partner Starling (totally new character) try to rescue the reporter.

As a story, it’s okay so far. Not wildly engaging. But there are a couple of story points that bugged me on the first read, details that took me out of the story. First, Starling crashes a vintage car into a church – unclear whether through the door or through the wall, although huge blocks of stone go flying. Now, who in their right mind does that? Drive through a window, sure. Even though this church is apparently abandoned, it’s still a rather solid building. But the crash seems to have no effect on the car. Its front end remains in pristine form. What is it? A tank? Give me a break. The second point is that at one moment a slim noose, like a garrote, goes round Black Canary’s neck and she is promptly dangling in the air, her full weight borne by the noose cutting into her neck. And it takes her a bit to cut the cord. So … is it a garrote (in which case, her own weight would have killed her) or just a rope? That second option would take a bit longer to asphyxiate her, if being suddenly lifted off her feet wouldn’t break her neck. What’s worse is that once she cuts herself free, she’s back in full action (including being able to use her “canary cry”).

Is it too much to ask for a touch of reality at these moments?

I could complain about Canary’s costume which is awful, but I’ll just comment on her footgear. What the heck are those things? They look like dancing shoes or Mary Janes with some sort of fancy leg florishes. Whatever they are, they don’t look substaintial enough for street fighting. What’s wrong with boots (not high heeled ones, but biker or cowboy boots even)?

As a long time Birds of Prey fan, I’m underwhelmed by this start. It isn’t that it’s bad. It isn’t particularly so. But it’s all flash and not a lot of substance about the characters that makes me care about them (just “information”). I’m not wild about the prospect of Poison Ivy joining the team, revamp of the character or not. This is a marginal title for me, which is a really disappointing thing to say. I love Black Canary, but the new costume is ugly and I’m not sure this take will be more than flash and bang.

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Comics – Ghostbusters

Posted on October 5, 2011 by Sarah

Ghostbusters #1 (IDW)

Writer: Erik Burnham; Artist: Dan Schoening; Colorist: Luis Antonio Delgado; Letterer: Shawn Lee; Associate Editor: Bobby Curnow; Editor: Tom Waltz; Back up story and art by: Tristan Jones

Anyone taking on the challenge of picking up the comic book license of a popular film (or pair of films if you really want to include  Ghostbusters 2) takes a big chance. Will the new book satisfy long-term fans? Will the book catch the fun tone of the film adventures? Will it entertain a new reader who knows little of the films?

It’s a real pleasure to read something that produces a resounding “Yes!” to those three questions.

Okay, truth in advertising: Writer Erik Burnham is a friend of mine. I was thrilled when he got the gig on this title. I got that news early, but that was all I got. He’s very scrupulous (as he ought to be) about keeping story/script details under wraps. So I’ve been waiting for the book as eagerly as the most rabid Ghostbusters fan. And Erik knows I wouldn’t pull any punches of criticism if I find flaws.

So we open the book and get a quick reintroduction to our main characters: Venkman, Spengler, Stantz, and Zeddemore are being introduced on a talkshow by their erstwhile receptionist Ja’nine. Except this talk show has an odd audience member that will be familiar to those who know the original film. Something’s screwy here. Burnham quickly uses the necessity of reintroducing the characters and referencing the most iconic moments from the original film to launch his own story of supernatural things gone wrong in New York City.

Very speedily we are tossed into the new “season” of Ghosts Gone Wild for our “heroes” (for lack of a term for such misfits). Dry humor, wacky science, dripping ectoplasm are all here in satisfying degrees.

And then there’s the cliffhanging encounter with a familiar … “face,” who is not being the least bit cute.

Oh, yeah. I’m on board for this.

Tristan Jones adds a three page back up which gives us an additional element to look forward to in coming issues. This short reintroduces us to the bane of the Ghostbusters team: the officious Walter Peck. No longer with the Environmental Protection Agency, Peck has just been hired by the city to serve as their Paranormal Contracts Oversight Commissioner. Oh, my. We can see the clashes coming.

In the main story, Dan Schoening’s broad style wonderfully captures the lines of the film actors’ faces, without slavishly trying to look exactly like them. This really gets the job done, because he stays with the emotions of this story instead of worrying about reproducing a photo-referenced portrait of Bill Murray or Dan Akroyd looking concerned. That would have been distracting. The style may look like it stepped off a cartoon screen, but Schoening has a great sense of composition and action that serves the comic book form well. By contrast, Jones’ three pages about Peck are dark and brooding and more finely turned. The happy aspect of this is that although there is contrast between the two art styles, they do not clash.

You, the reader – any reader – will enjoy this book. It is off to a very solid start with the promise of only getting better.

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Comics – Wonder Woman

Posted on October 2, 2011 by Sarah

Wonder Woman #1 (DC Comics)

Writer: Brian Azzarello; Artist: Cliff Chiang; Colorist: Matthew Wilson; Letterer: Jared K. Fletcher; Associate Editor: Chris Conroy; Editor: Matt Idelson

More of DC’s “New 52.” Wonder Woman, an iconic character in the truest sense. The best known female superhero in existence in all  comics. I’ve written about the nature of Wonder Woman as an archetypal figure, so I have a real interest in this relaunch. And the company has sold this as, supposedly, a restart that new readers can jump on board with. You would think that at a time when comics are trying to draw in more women readers, this would be the title they would use to appeal to those women.

Think again.

First off, it is eleven pages into the story (of a twenty-four page issue) before we see the title character in action. Count that as the first point missed.

We open with two pages of a guy with strangely lit eyes (and mouth – huh?) entertaining three beauties in a high rise apartment. With a sinister intent. Okay, not a bad opening; it’s intriguing. Count that a plus. Score 1 to 1.

Then we get a different location and a mysterious figure, female, judging by her bare legs, in a cloak of peacock feathers. She makes her way into a Virginia barn and whacks off the heads of two horses with a sickle that she magically refurbishes. Some strange creature seems to crawl out of the neck of one of those horses. Negative point for yet more pages without our title character. Positive point for mystery figure, mainly because for those who know Greek mythology (since any Wonder Woman reader ought to know a little bit), that peacock feather robe indicates the presence of Hera. So that makes the score: 2 to 2.

Surely we’ll meet our hero now? No. Remember, we’re only five pages in.

So, another five pages of Hermes showing up at the door of an unknonwn woman (Zola) – a Hermes in a guise I’m unfamiliar with (and I know a lot of mythology): totally black eyes, and bird’s feet. Hermes tries to protect this woman from monstrous centaurs attacking her house (the decapitated horses have been transformed). He gives her a magical key that allows her to escape to – finally – our title character. Postitive point for action, negative point for continued cluelessness for the reader; negative point (from this reader) for what I feel inappropriate gore and horror for this title. Score: 3 to 4 (negative leading).

Ah ha. Our shining heroine at last. Except … our heroine wakes up cranky! (nearly choking Zola in the process): -1. Wonder Woman knows she has to face the mythological creature: +1. Zola decides she has to go back with Diana: -1. Score: 4 to 6.

What? Wait, Zola’s escaped monsters and now she wants to go back and face these things she is utterly unprepared to deal with? Mind you, she’s barefoot, in underwear and t-shirt with a big shirt over that: just the perfect outfit for an intelligent woman to wear when monster hunting. Riiiight! (NOT!)

Hermes, apparently dying (an achievement for a divine immortal), conveys important news about Zola, which – if you know your mythology – explains why Hera has a hate-on for Zola. There’s monster fighting that seems successful. And then we wrap up the issue with the revelation that Bright Eyes from the opening has been using his three dates to spy on all this action from afar, which burns them up.

Oh, so sorry I spoiled that for you. [/sarcasm]

I’m not going to score the last part of the story. When we hit the 4 to 6 divide, it was bad enough.

I could spin a nice long rant about how this horror approach is not really well-suited to Wonder Woman. Who really thought this was a winning commercial proposition as a “jumping on point”? Sure, it’s a different approach to the character. But I’m not sure it is the right one.

In simple storytelling matters: it takes too long to bring Wonder Woman to the stage; the story isn’t even really about Wonder Woman, it’s about Zola. And DC is telling us that this is a great introduction for new readers who are interested in the character of Wonder Woman? Azzarello is a good writer, but I’m not sure his approach here is a winning one. This story is not really a Wonder Woman story; this is a horror story with Wonder Woman in it. Not what I, as a regular Wonder Woman reader, am looking for as a regular diet.

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Comics – Batman and Robin

Posted on September 21, 2011 by Sarah

Batman and Robin #1 (DC Comics)

Writer: Peter J. Tomasi; Penciller: Patrick Gleason; Inker: Mick Gray; Colorist: John Kalisz; Letterer: Patrick Brosseau; Assistant Editor: Katie Kubert; Associate Editor: Harvey Richards; Editor: Mike Marts

DC’s “New 52″ had been touted as new starting points, where someone who was absolutely clueless about the DCU could jump on. The reality is, however, that although that may be true for many books, the Batman titles seem exempt. The Grant Morrison-carved nature of Batman and his henchlings continues on, without explanation. Of particular note is the fact that Robin is not only the  fourth to hold the title (Dick, Jason and Tim are mentioned), he is Bruce Wayne’s ten-year-old psychopathic son. And no reference is made to Damian’s origins, other than Bruce acknowledging him as a son. Good luck to newbies figuring that out without reference to supposedly abandoned continuity. (Obviously, it isn’t abandoned, but there you go with that “New 52″ on the front.)

Anyway, in “Born to Kill” we are given a new direction on Batman’s character, at least to a certain degree. Crime Alley, where Bruce’s parents died is about to be bulldozed. Bruce has decided this will be the last time he memorializes the date of his parents’ deaths, and that after this he will honor their wedding day instead. (Now, that change I can get on board with!) Bruce takes DAmian to Crime Alley for this last memorial, Damian complaining all the way. (Why does no one strangle this kid?)

Now, here’s something that bothers me a lot — both are in costume, yet both babble about their relationship, address Alfred on radio by his name while they are out on the streets, where anyone might hear them! How is it that they maintain secret identities? It is one of the sloppiest things about the Bat-verse and it makes me crazy. Of all characters in the world who protect their identities, Batman ought to be the best. He and his henchlings ought to refer to each other only by their noms de guerre when they are in costume, and their relationships shouldn’t be specified. (Yeah, I’m a cranky fan.)

Anyway, Batman and his bratty Robin interrupt a team stealing radioactive material from a university laboratory reactor. A reactor, which for some reason is built right under an upper story swimming pool which children use. Yeah. I’m not buying this. This bizarre bit of architecture is necessary for purely plot reasons – the bad guys punch a hole in the reactor wall, draining core water. Batman plugs the hole and then blows out the bottom of the pool in the story above in order to fill the reactor cooler. I don’t want to know what the potential chemical reactions might be to chlorinated water suddenly exposed to fissionable material. At least Batman deployed a net to catch the swimmers before they fell into the reactor.

Generally, I like Tomasi’s writing, but … where the heck did this idiocy come from? It’s like the return of “Oh, it’s comics, who cares if it doesn’t make sense!” Well, I care. I’d like at least a little bit of what C.S. Lewis calls “realism of presentation” to carry along the fantastical elements of the story.

In other news, Damian-Robin doesn’t listen to orders, goes off, does what he’s told not to do, and the escaping bad guys (with radioactive material) explode in the city tunnels. At least it seems that way, although there’s no sign of the bodies and Batman says nothing of radiation levels. (Wouldn’t that be a primary concern? I mean, I want to know if there’s now a “hot spot” under the streets of Gotham!)

Yeah. We’ve got some story problems here. And there’s also a wacko killer on the loose using the name “Nobody” (shades of The Odyssey! — the Homeric one). What can I say? I’m a dyed-in-the-wool Batman fan. I’m stuck for now.

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Comics – Demon Knights

Posted on September 21, 2011 by Sarah

Demon Knights #1 (DC Comics)

Writer: Paul Cornell; Penciller: Diógenes Neves; Inker: Oclair Albert; Colorist: Marcelo Maiolo; Letterer: Jared K. Fletcher; Associate Editor: Chris Conroy; Editor: Matt Idelson

My original intention had been to give this title from the “New DCU” the go-by, because it features Etrigan the Demon, and he’s not really a favorite of mine. But at one of the panels at the San Diego Comic Con, the teaser for the book was sufficiently intriguing that I decided to try it.

The opening story arc (or Part 1 of it – story titling seems to remain problematic with DC, new or old) is titled “Seven Against the Dark.” Like all good “gathering of forces” sequences, we are given quick introductions to various characters, some being origin stories, such as how Etrigan got merged with Jason (eventually known as “Jason Blood”). Others are just there, like Vandal Svage. We are given just enough to intrigue but not so much as to overload.

This is sword-and-sorcery, by the way. It’s a genre DC hasn’t really tackled much in a dedicated title. Oh, various books have done fantasy arcs (Gail Simone wrote one during her  Wonder Woman run). But an on-going book? This could be interesting. Of course, the one possible draw-back is that none of the main characters seem to be … well, heroes. It’s almost as if they took the premise from Simone’s Secret Six and tossed it back into the Dark Ages: a group of not-really-good-folk with powers banded together to fight whatever gets in their way.

This is definitely not an all-ages book, however, Violence and hacking, and 2 pages where a baby is used for demon-possession communication, ending with an exploding baby.

I’ll admit, I’m intrigued. I’ll read at least a couple more issues. I don’t really care about any of these characters yet, but I could be interested. Worth a read, if you like sword-and-sorcery.

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DVD/Blu-Ray – White Face

Posted on August 9, 2011 by Sarah

Written and Directed by Brian McDonald

This short film came out in 2000, and I saw it – as a filler on one of the cable movie channels, I believe – and fell in love with it.

The blurb for the movie says just about all you need to know –
In these politically correct times it is difficult to believe that America’s most conspicuous minority group has been the most ignored by the mainstream media. In this illuminating documentary, filmmaker Brian McDonald follows the lives of three Clown-Americans and their families.

I had “forgotten” about this film until recently when I read a couple of McDonald’s books on writing, and found that he’d included the script in one. That led me to the happy discovery that the short is available on DVD, and I quickly added it to my collection.

I could go on about the profound intelligence McDonald brings to his film about prejudice. But I think it would be far better for everyone to seek out the film and discover it themselves. It was brilliant when he made it, and remains so.

Check it out.

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Writing Books – Invisible Ink

Posted on August 9, 2011 by Sarah

By Brian McDonald

This book from Brian McDonald provides a good grounding for writes on how to build a story structure that won’t stick out obviously to the audience. McDonald calls this “invisible ink” because he feels the object should be that storytelling should be so seamless that the audience does not realize how the storytell has shaped the tale.

McDonald very thoroughly explains seve basic step questions that will help the writer shape the structure. When I read it, I was startled with how simple they were, but I immediately saw their value. I keep a file of what I call “writing guides” to help me structure stories, and McDonald’s Seven Steps promptly joined the collection, to be used as one of my first steps in starting a story.

He then goes on to discuss the armature of the story. In one short section on what he calls “joke exercise,” he points out the importance of setting up elements if you want to have a specific pay off. McDonald spends a chapter on what could be called “pain” issues, and his insights open whole vistas on what can provide this element in your story.

In addition to sections on dialogue and what he calls “superior position” in storytelling, McDonald includes a chapter on how to handle critiques. Things can easily go wrong in a story and writers who want to do better have to learn how to “hear” critiques. McDonald’s advice on this should be kept at hand by every writer. What the commentators say may need “translation” to be of use to the writer, and McDonald instructs you on how to do this.

The cream of this book comes at the end when McDonald includes the script for his wonderful short film, White Face. He follows it with an analytic description of the structure of the short, the “invisible ink” in his own storytelling in the mock documentary.

This book deserves to be on any writer’s work shelf.

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