Twenty-Eight Pages Lovingly Bound With Twine

Ah, zines. They don't show up in the mailbox too often anymore, and sometimes I forget how weird and sweet zine people can be. Take Christoph, who devotes the first three pages of 28P #8 to bellyaching about how his hand-me-down computer (which he clearly adores, despite his Luddite inclinations) has crashed, taking with it 1000 pieces of prose. Christoph damns the machine to long and infernal torments, seemingly oblivious to the rudiments of back-up technology. You get the sense that he never talks with anyone about his work methods, and has no idea that they were a time bomb. He's more comfortable buying an old photocopier for a few bucks and cranking out zines until it dies. Christoph is a vegan who lives with his dentist wife and frisky little son Herbie (a big Beastie Boys fan) in rural Ohio, and his zine is full of unexpected exoticism, like a visit from the septic tank man (and his Filth-Sucking Wondertruck), Herbie's amazement at seeing his first mohawk at a zine conference and a think piece on the NASCAR-themed snack offerings at the local drive-thru convenience store. Christoph doesn't believe in the internet, so if you want to know more you'll just have to send him two bucks or something neat in trade. -Kim Cooper

(reviewed: 28PLBWT issues # 8 and #11. cost: $2 or trade from Christoph Meyer, PO Box 106, Danville, OH 43014)