As we anticipate the official release of Ten Thousand Stories one week from today, we’ve been wondering what, if anything, will happen once the book hits the streets. We are guessing that there will be no clap of thunder. Most likely cars will still drive on the right side of the street.
But will anything shift from our pre- to post-Chronicle lives?
One exciting thing has already happened. Publisher’s Weekly saw fit to review the book, and what’s more, elected to say nice things about it.
For those of you who do not like to click, here is what they had to say.
The problem with many graphic novels is not lack of quality but quantity; in short, they’re far too short. Readers will not complain about the brevity of this whimsical curiosity of a story machine, from the writer/illustrator couple Matthew Swanson and Robbi Behr (who run the small press Idiots’ Books). Each page of the wirebound book is divided into four punchy horizontal panels, with text on the left and drawings on the right, which readers can then mix and match for endless variations. The book is made up of 10 morbidly funny stories about eccentrics (“The Puzzling Habits of Eccentric Messiahs,” “The Intoxicating Thrill of Combative Lovers”) who all seem to end up somewhere unfortunate. Behr’s illustrations have a scratchy, just-fallen-out-of-bed, Ralph Steadman quality, while Swanson’s stories are vividly episodic in a way that isn’t damaged by the inherent randomization. For those who lack a partner with whom to play Exquisite Corpse, this book will pass the time just fine. (Sept.)
I’m particularly pleased with their assessment of Ten Thousand Stories as a “whimsical curiosity of a story machine,” and with their description of Robbi’s illustrations as having a “scratchy, just-fallen-out-of-bed, Ralph Steadman quality.”
I feel like they got what we were going for. And that they liked what we made. What more can one ask from a review? Thank you, Publisher’s Weekly.
Will others review the book? We do not know. And would they be equally charitable? It is difficult to say. For now, we count the days and wait to see what happens next.
