Title: Super in the City
Author: Daphne Uviller
Date: 2009
In the wake of the former superintendant's arrest, Zephyr Zuckerman finds herself in charge of the Greenwhich Village building she has occupied her entire life. At 27, Zephyr still hasn't decided what she wants to do when she grows up, but she has no difficulty concocting ambitious, albeit far fetched, plans for herself. Zephyr's new job as super is her first foray into true responsibility and sets her life into motion, even if it isn't as exciting as she imagined.
I was expecting the book to be more of a more mystery, but with the exception of a sub-plot involving an exotic French neighbor, the story is largely about Zephyr (and her potential boyfriend and her girlfriends and their potential boyfriends). I don't usually enjoy novels in the "chick lit" genre, but I liked this book as a bit of escapist fun. Zephyr and her friends were witty, self-deprecating, and had lives that were comprised of more than their dates and fashion choices.
Title: Macbeth: The Graphic Novel
Author: text by William Shakespeare, art by Jon Haward, Gary Erskine, and Nigel Dobbin, adapted by John McDonald
Year: 2008
Reading the graphic novel of Macbeth has some of the advantages of seeing a stage or film adaptation, without having to sacrifice any of the text. The visual component contributes to the action and eeriness in Macbeth, which may not be apparent during a first reading of the text alone.
While the artwork does make it easier to follow the plot, I do miss the textual notes that editors usually add to the plays. Even if you can follow the play without looking to footnotes for explanations, it can be interesting to see editors' notes about passages that are particularly difficult or archaic. This is especially helpful if you plan to write an essay or examine the words themselves.
The book also includes historical information about the play, Shakespeare, the "real" Macbeth, theatre during Shakespeare's time, and Shakespeare in the present. There's even a page about how the graphic novel was created if you're more interested in the artwork. This is fun read for someone who's new to Macbeth, as well as for those who'd just like to see another interpretation.
Author: Rodes Fishburne
Date: 2008
Already in his mid-twenties, Slater Brown worries that his dream of becoming the greatest writer of all time is in jeopardy, so he arrives in San Francisco, where he plans to wait for some fortuitous chain of events that will make his literary genius known to the world. In the meantime, the young literary hopeful and modern-day dandy embarks on journalism career, acquiring his much-talked-about scoops by ethically questionable means, becomes a San Francisco celebrity, and falls in love with a beautiful, young chess master. (Note that the novel unfolds in a surreal, dreamlike San Francisco where psychic abilities may be real, an inventor named Milo Magnet can create weather events, and a mayor in crisis can consume enough food to render him unable to fit through his office doorway.) Although Slater is phenomenally successful, he begins to doubt whether he desires the success he has obtained. When he realizes that fate doesn't follow the plans he has made for himself, Slater is forced to reassess his life.
While the quirkiness of pseudo-San Francisco and its fictional denizens is amusing, it feels a bit overdone as the novel progresses, and the book starts to drag somewhat once Slater falls in love. I also would have liked to have read more about the sub-plot involving inventor Milo Magnet, since he seemed at least as interesting as Slater Brown. But if, like Slater, you've been enamored with a place, your plans, and your vision of yourself . . . only to realize that your ideas about all of the above lacked any basis in reality, you'll probably find something to appreciate in this book