Saturday, March 22, 2008

Hobson's Choice Review of Dorothea #2

My oh my. I haven’t been this hooked into a zine for a long time. Each story in this issue is bite-size but, like candy, you end up eating the whole package at once. What really grabbed my attention is how clearly the voice comes through; the style is beautiful. While most of the stories are on the dirty side with a large focus on sex and murder, there are a few pieces that transcend it. ‘The Creep’ is an unrealized character study, and it’s backed up by stories about a painter named Ludwig. Now for the bad: Mike’s grammar is pretty atrocious. Do not let this fool you into thinking that he cannot write, however; there is something very powerful in the way he conveys his stories. I put issue 2 down and felt the rush of inspiration again. If there is truly anything that can be considered ‘American Writing’ today, it’s coming from the mind of Mike Baker.
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