Perzine, David Solomon, #4, [email protected], $2
I feel like I know David Solomon. His pet peeves, fears and dreams are all something that I recognize, either in myself (as a fellow idolizer of Antarctica) or through past friends and acquaintances. Solomon reveals his points of view through excerpts from personal letters, short essays and very short, but powerful, fiction. While his non-fiction essays and letters occasionally ramble, they almost always find salvation in their passion. While he sometimes misses the mark (his essay against smartphones and our connected generation turns into more of a rambling rant than an argument), Solomon’s humour and honesty are his most redeeming qualities. In an excerpt from a letter entitled “A Beard of Passion,” Solomon’s comical love for his facial hair quickly and beautifully develops into a metaphor for his fears for the future. Will any of us ever be as sure of anything in our lives as Solomon is sure of his beard? Probably not. In another letter, he articulates his feelings to his new girlfriend Hailey, revealing the excitement and infatuation of a new relationship. The most enjoyable features of this perzine are the short bursts of fiction. “Three Very Short Stories” are funny, haunting and brief. All three making you laugh and think. Travel On feels like a diary entry from my own past. That level of personal identification and recognition can be hard to come by, and is all the more enjoyable when it is illustrated with vintage stamps and drawings of owls. (Anna Wellman)