frank

The Portable Frank
$16.99
I had to laugh upon reading the product description for Jim Woodring's THE PORTABLE FRANK, as that one paragraph provides more detail on Frank and his world than I've been able to glean from almost 15 years of reading these stories. This book collects 14 of Woodring's black and white tales featuring his anthropomorphic whatsit under one compact cover. They are wordless, meandering, and hallucinatory, and the stories depend as much on the reader's attention as on Woodring's considerable skill as a storyteller to make them work. Don't get me wrong - this book is full of great stories, but some of them require effort, so while you may think that a story without words would require a couple of minutes at best, they can all benefit from slow, multiple reads, taking time to soak in the atmosphere and detail. Woodring's art incorporates elements of Disney, Dali, and Hinduism, blending it into a distinctive whole. He certainly stands out among the field of today's comic artists.

So, this is an excellent introduction for anyone to Frank. The only drawback is that it doesn't include more pages. Hopefully, a collection of the color stories is around the corner...

Frank [Deluxe Edition]
$19.98
I love this CD and the additional cd is really something! Her live performance is unbelievable.

The Frank Book
$39.95
First, let me point out that at 11.4 x 8.7 x 1.2 inches, and 344 pages, Jim Woodring's fabulously illustrated masterpiece, "Frank," contains more than three-and-a-half pounds of peculiar, and at a relative pittance, ta' boot. Frank, the character for whom this book is named, is a apparently colorless, somewhat staid, Disney-esque critter of indefinable origin, whose sanity and composure seems enormously unhinged when set against the exquisitely bizarre landscape (itself a second key character of this book) and the wonderfully inexplicable behavior of the supporting cast. Not quite a cat, or mouse, or puppy dog, Frank is a charmingly generic anthropomorph, although not necessarily always charming in that super-sucrose, "your pal" manner that a Mickey or a Spongebob is or has to be. Mainly, Frank is intensely curious, even punishingly so.

The "Frank" book contains 37 almost completely wordless stories, most of which are just 'acouple-few' pages in length, with the exception of the very long "FRANK'S REAL PA" (pages 59-107) which clocks in at 48 pages, and three other long-ish pieces; "FRANK IN THE RIVER" (pages 9-33,) "PUSHPAW" (pages 175-193,) and "GENTLEMANHOG" (pages 215-234) which consume twenty-four, eighteen, and nineteen pages, respectively. However, just because it is nearly wordless, do not expect this book to be a quick read. Because the panels are so beautifully illustrated and the storylines are so precise, expect to become deeply involved and engrossed within the pages. This book is a bona fide time-shifting machine, so don't be frightened if you decide to drink your morning cup of coffee while you "read just a few more pages" and lift your nose from the book to see that somehow, its become dark outside and everyone else has gone to bed. "Frank" is hauntingly beautiful. With landscapes that are vaguely reminiscent of a bad Peter Maxx acid trip in downtown Moscow, and characters that interact with Frank in ways that suggest they are aware of some magic principles or rules of the game that he is completely oblivious to, it is entirely too easy to spend way too much time immersed and engrossed. (Its okay, we forgive you. Now go turn on the oven, your dinner will need re-heating...)

"Frank" has storylines, images, and characters that seem strangely familiar in an almost Jungian sense, and will remind many readers of....something...Repeated readings suggest very simple riddles or jokes, or maybe nursery rhymes, and it is amazing and odd how often certain scenes will pop into mind at the most opportune times. With characters such as the Manhog and Whim, these stories are certainly aimed at an adult audience, but most children should be able to safely read this book, provided they aren't already possessed of some sort of psychiatric trauma (although they may have questions when they are done.)

I would absolutely recommend "Frank" to anyone who wants a book that is capable of stirring some sublime instinct within themselves, to anyone who hungers for remarkable illustration and potent, luminous storylines, and most of all, to anyone who needs a bit of strangely familiar mystery in their everyday life. Heck, I'd recommend this book to anyone who has an afternoon to spare and a few book-bound dollars in their pocket. Such a petty price to pay to pry a petite peek into the psyche of a genius. (For a larger peek, perhaps a PEEK.[...]

Return to Sullivans Island LP: A Novel (Lowcountry Tales)
$25.99
Too much "golly geewiz" dialogue. Frustratingly predictable plot. Too many authors coasting on their previous successes for monetary gain. Very disrespectful to their readers.