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zine reviews by Pete Cooke

THE 5TH WALL Issue 8:

This is a great literary zine with short fiction, word play, and poems. They also exhibit art like their amazing cover. Each one must've been painstakingly created by hand. A match is placed in a slited envelope which holds a folded piece of flammable stolen paper. There's hidden words on the paper like "Stalin" and "ape" and "pare." Under the envelope is glued a strip reading "Close cover before striking" and under that is a strip of sand paper. Totally original. $1 The 5th Wall, PO Box 22161, San Diego, CA 92192-2161

SAMIZDAT #2

This is kinda old by now but it's their final issue and these guys are zine gods. An incredible amount of work and trouble making went into this twenty-eight pager. They run around a zoo, they explore Michigan tunnels, "A Practical Guide to Getting Busted", an omelet recipe, a hovercraft design, a photo story. There's even a picture of Greg with a busted nose. Funny, funny stuff. $1 Samizdat, PO Box 4296, Ann Arbor, MI 48106.

THE BUCK IN THE FIELD 2

Tyler Starr writes and illustrates this zine about work. Jobs like putting up shelves in Suffield Maximum Security prison, stacking cardboard boxes for UPS, and painting condos. Tyler's got a sly, subtle sense of humor. All the stories are witty and worth reading. I laughed out loud a lot. His drawings are pen and ink and very well done. Some are squiggled and some are detailed. One especially funny story is titled: "That's guy's a prick" - a quote from an Old Italian Peon. Spoken every time a foreman came within a 15 foot radius. Also Tyler does a nice sewing machine threaded binding. Great read for down and out workers. $1 (I think) Tyler Starr, 55 Horizon Circle, South Windsor, CT 06074

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