#schools out

Alice Cooper na capa da RIP Magazine, Outubro de 1989.

A lot of the people who come over to my place, even friends who’ve known me since we were up-to-no-good kids, make some sort of comment about the amount of books I own. Something like, “Have you actually read all of these?” or “Where do I put my coffee?” are typical questions, which in turn are usually met with earnest responses like, “Not all, but most” and “On your lap.” My buddy Gino (@rideordiesmokenfly) is no exception to this, so when we were on a train a few weeks back chatting up books he was stunned to learn that I hadn’t read To Kill a Mockingbird, and happily smug that he’d read something I hadn’t. There’s no reason for not having read Lee’s classic yet other than it wasn’t mandatory reading in the super sketchy public high school that I went to (and I’m sticking to that same alibi for Lord of the Flies and Nineteen Eighty Four). I just figured I’ll get to it eventually, along with the other hundred books slotted in my mental tbr list. But Gino upped the ante yesterday when he came over to help paint my apartment (what a champ) and gifted me this perfect paperback copy (this guy, man). I have a trip coming up soon and this definitely just won top spot for my airplane reading. Classics in the air. Plus, I’ll bring the Rima-Gino reading ratio back to where it should be. I’m actually really excited to dig into it. I’ve only ever heard great things.

Top cover illustration by Kristiina Seppä.

Bottom cover illustration by Dominic Chung.

School’s out! Hooooooooray!

Theodore “T.J.” Detweiler “This womps.”