Coffeeshop Crushes
Book Reviews | May 31st, 2008
Author: Nicole J. Georges and Jon Van
Publisher: Microcosm
Genre: Zine
Pages: 36
Retail Price: 2.00
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Zinesters and coffeeshops go together like tapeworms and my ass: they fit perfectly, dreamily, like kittens in mittens, whiling away the hours gulping caffeine, looking cute, and jotting down BIG THOUGHTS. (My tapeworms are very smart.)
It’s almost a cliche that zinesters – urban and suburban – sit around in coffeeshops, dreaming up unrequited crushes so they can write about them, or at least writing about sitting in coffeeshops, since coffeeshops tend to be more romantic on paper than actually wasting your time and money in one. Sure, I’m cynical. But I’ve also been to plenty of coffeeshops in my life, and not to ogle the mediocre-looking baristas, but to GET A FUCKING CUP OF COFFEE BEFORE I GO ON A MURDEROUS RAMPAGE.
That said, cuteness is cuteness, and Coffeeshop Crushes is Cute. Many one-page short stories (or shorter), mostly by girls, are on frequenting the local cafe just to stare at the flustered, squirrely indie boy behind the counter who wears thick glasses and nervously gets the order wrong. Cute! It almost makes me wonder if I’ve chosen the wrong career path.
The zine relies on many contributors so writing quality varies, but cuteness abounds. There are also a number of comics interspersed, including a good one from Shawn Granton and, of course, Too Much Coffee Man.
(Funny enough, one of the only male contributors offers a short, blunt piece about the benefits of a successful coffeeshop crush – the hot caffeine-fueled sex and, equally important, the free coffee!)
I like my zines the way I like my coffee – dark, bitter, and ground up and stored in my freezer. But don’t get me wrong – this is a sweet, frothy collaboration that will warm you up and get you going in the morning. Just like a nice, hot cup of pickle juice.
For more information, go to Microcosm Publishing.
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