Doris: An Anthology 1991-2001 [Paperback]

Cindy Crabb (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 15, 2005

The first ten years of Doris fanzine. Cindy writes her zine, DORIS, like she is figuring out the human condition. She makes writing about the simplest and most common things - playing music, childhood, cooking, or sex - resonate with universal understanding. She helps us make sense of more complex things like the satisfaction from doing useful work, natural curiosity, the ability to use logic, gender dynamics, introspection, the need for challenge and change, combating depression and creating art & literature. She shares and explores the emotions involved with having an abortion, rape, dealing with the death of family, or sexual harassment in a context that is enlightening and personal, feeling like a close friend opening up to you. What's most impressive though is that she relates these things into every article in her zine seamlessly. For fans of Cometbus, Burn Collector etc.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Cindy Crabb is the author of the zine Support. She lives in Athens, Ohio.

Product Details

• Paperback: 300 pages
• Publisher: Microcosm; Second edition edition (July 15, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0972696784
• ISBN-13: 978-0972696784
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 6.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #175,643 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars gentle, subtle, thought provoking, September 24, 2008

By 

bethsol (ann arbor, mi usa) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Doris: An Anthology 1991-2001 (Paperback)

After reading one essay from an older issue of Doris in a zine anthology (called "A Girl's Guide to Taking Over the World", which is also good) I tried to find anything I could about Cindy Crabb (the author) or where to find more of her writing. In a response to a letter I sent Ms. Crabb, I learned that she was still writing Doris on a regular basis and that she had published this book.

If you're not familiar with zine culture, the informal style of this book might surprise you. But it might be a pleasant surprise; her homemade, handmade layout, typewritten text and scribbly cartoons are endearing and somehow really poignant and fit with the content. The book is a collection of ten years worth of Doris zines that chronicle Ms. Crabb's travels around the country with friends, encounters with strangers, her battles with depression, her relationship with family members, and anarcha-feminism, to name a few particulars. I think that might make it sound drier than it actually is, so let me try to explain what I think the themes are that come out:

--alienation from others vs. community
--political correctness vs. personal experience/truth
--reflections on punk culture
--the importance of creativity and imagination in daily life as a means of combating depression and feeling fulfilled
--gender questions
--connecting with people rather than ignoring them
--the importance of art in everyday life
--the importance of simplicity

Hopefully that gives you an idea. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS BOOK. You just have to experience Ms. Crabb's prose and feel the way her words fit on the page to know why this is such an amazing book.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful compilation of a fantastic self-published writing, September 12, 2008

By 

azurablueseven "azurablueseven" (Albuquerque, NM United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Doris: An Anthology 1991-2001 (Paperback)

I started reading Doris 'zine in 1997. A girl I worked with told me it was amazing. I bought a copy a comic book shop. I was hooked with the first issue I read. Doris is Cindy Ovenrack Crabb's zine, and it's full of honest, open, and thoughtful observations on her life, friendship, love, abuse, depression, women's health, activism, and travel. I am re-reading this compilation for the second time, and it still holds up. I look forward to the next anthology, as she currently released Doris #26.