Customer Reviews

Stardumb

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A perfect balance of story, illustration, and book design. It takes as much time to read these hilarious, melancholy, knowing portraits as it does to contemplate the intricate and cynical drawings that accompany them, each based on the twelve signs of the zodiac. The pleasures of this 88 page book come too soon to their end. Characters are vivid and may or may not be based on real art world figures, and they conform to astrological stereotypes in a surprisingly humane way--the performance artist who cheats on his check, the art dealer who can sell art to anybody-- but actors-- and the museum head whose father hid birds in his jacket. To quote from the delicious send up of the radical academic, a "fifty-something version of Ali McGraw in 'Love Story,'" Stardumb just might restore astrology as "a pre-enlightenment practice, totally untainted by its hegemony."

This book is by Dave Hickey, freelance writer who is a frequent contributor to Village Voice, Artnews, and ArtForum. He writes fiction and cultural criticism, with a twist.

If you've enjoyed his previous two books - The Invisible Dragon, and Air Guitar - you're sure to enjoy Stardumb (also a collection of stories, largely poking fun at mainstream culture, and with lots of great illustrations by independent artists).