2020 is only two days away. Is it too early, then, to have a favorite book of this coming year — even though it was published in 2018 (although I got it for Christmas 2019)? Well, its my blog and I can do what I want. Right? Right!
From Elara Films. the production company of the Safdie Brothers (Josh and Benny Safdie), directors and co-screenwriters with Ronald Bronstein of “Uncut Gems,” comes Elara Press’s R. Crumb’s Dream Diary, edited by Bronstein and Sammy Harkam, and handsomely designed by Jordan Crane.
“The idea of making a book from my dream diaries originally cam from Sammy Harkham and Ronnie Bronstein,” writes Crumb in the Introduction. “They had read some of these dream accounts, which had appeared in several issues of Mineshaft, a small magazine put out by Everett and Gioria Rand. In a letter to Crumb, Harkham suggested ]”the idea of an entire book of my dreams and volunteered to find a publisher or publish it himself.” Ultimately, Bronstein typed up the dreams and it was published by Elara, the highly successful film production company and was produced in the form of a small brick-bible. Crumb writes: “I have an abiding dread of BORING the reader. Of course, I, the dreamer of these dreams, find them endlessly fascinating. ” And so do I.
Crumb’s cast of characters includes a pantheon of cartoon and comics artists, along with others that drift throughout dream and nightmare. Coincidentally, I also had a dream, as did Crumb, that he titles “My Father On A Bicycle Looking For Cat Food.” You’d think there wouldn’t be much duplication between my dreams and his, but that’s the wonder and mystery of the mind. I didn’t have anything close to Crumb’s “Dream of Visiting Adolph Hitler’s Wife,” but he did and I think you’d enjoy reading. There are dozens of others, including the all-time recurring class “I Have To Catch A Bus.,” that may seem familiar. In my case I’m usually wearing Hanes white briefs worn backwards. I won’t tell you about Crumb’s unconscious adventures, you’ll have to read it for yourself.
