When The Crash Meets Something #5: There are some zines you receive that are unexpected pleasures – this is a perfect example. Gabrielle is an ex-junkie, former sex worker who’s now a single mum striving to deal with her fucked-up past and what promises to be a much brighter future. Through older journal entries, poems and more current articles she eloquently explores where she’s been and who she is now. It’s breathtakingly shocking and extremely moving. Not surprisingly, as a dad of two small children, I found the author’s article on her child’s developmental issues particularly heartbreaking. We’ve all been there as parents, Gabrielle – you have nothing to fear, mate. Gabrielle Congrave, 215 Spurce Ave SW, Bagley, MN, 56621,prettythingpress@gmail.com[US$3 US/Canada/Mexico, US$4 everywhere else, trades welcome, 40S, :30] – Dann Lennard
The Ken Chronicles #16: I was really enjoying this zine for the first 20 pages. Ken’s a guy in his early 60s (I assume) who’s the kinda cool grandfather we probably all wish we had. He’s computer literate, a dude who remembers Woodstock and has pretty cool musical tastes. And he loves zines. Sounds like the sorta guy I’d wanna catch up with for a beer. Then he ruins the zine with a sad tale about him going to see a psychic. The transcript he provides of the session is a classic example of cold reading by a leech who preys on the misery and gullibility of others. It’s sad that Ken – so savvy in so many ways – is taken in hook, line and sinker by this charlatan. Ken Bausert, 2140 Erma Drive, East Meadow, NY, 11554-1120, USA, PassScribe@aol.com, thekenbauserchronicles.blogspot.com [US$2/trade/letter of comment, 28S, :30] – Dann Lennard
Serial Anarchist #2: Oooooooh, a celebrity prisoner-created zine. For those who don’t know, Francisco Duran is serving 40 years for attempting to assassinate then-US Prez Bill Clinton in 1994. His zine is full of clipped articles (ranging from nonsensical and paranoid to mildly interesting), oddball ravings about anarchy, an extreme sex fantasy and pleas from the author for “pictures of girls in their panties”. Buyer beware. Francisco M. Duran, PO Box 6000, Federal Correctional Institute, Florence, Colorado, 81226, USA [no prices listed…a few bux? Trades? Panty pix?, 32S, :15+] – Dann Lennard
