{"id":43383,"date":"2024-12-24T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-12-24T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/?p=43383"},"modified":"2024-12-19T15:21:29","modified_gmt":"2024-12-19T22:21:29","slug":"xo-ox-get-jiro-blood-and-sushi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/xo-ox-get-jiro-blood-and-sushi\/","title":{"rendered":"XO, OX \/ Get Jiro: Blood and Sushi"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Books That Belong On Paper<\/strong>\u00a0first appeared on the web as Wink Books and was edited by Carla Sinclair.<\/em>\u00a0Sign up here<\/a>\u00a0to get the issues a week early in your inbox.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

AN EPIC LOVE AFFAIR BETWEEN A GRACEFUL GAZELLE AND A CLUMSY, HAPLESS OX TOLD THROUGH HILARIOUSLY SWEET LETTERS<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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XO, OX: A Love Story<\/em>
by Adam Rex, Scott Campbell (Illustrator)
Roaring Brook Press
2017, 40 pages, 8.5 x 11.0 inches, Hardcover<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Buy on Amazon<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

XO, OX: A Love Story<\/em>, is exactly that. Told entirely through letters between the adoring Ox and the glamorous Gazelle, Adam Rex and Scott Campbell have created a charming story for readers of all ages. The story is propelled by things we are often in too short supply of these days: passion, humanity, and honest to goodness mail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Far from an oafish beast blindly in love that Gazelle imagines him to be, Ox is a deeply thoughtful creature, an undeterred optimist, propelled by love and pen. Like an envelope sealed with a kiss, the story is bookended in illustrated endpapers that bring the correspondence full circle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Were this story told through Ox\u2019s incessant emails to Gazelle, his tweets at her, his constant posting of Gazelle-themed memes, clearly, this story would be much less romantic. It would also be impossible. Ox\u2019s emails would go straight to spam, his social media pleas blocked. Plus, it would be way too depressing to see him bask in Gazelle\u2019s rejections in the sad light of a glowing screen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is a hard fact of life knowing that my daughter may never pass a note in class, but I still hold out hope that she will write, and receive, a bonafide letter, to be kept and carried close, folded and unfolded until whole sentences are creased (but not lost \u2014 they\u2019ll be memorized, of course), and finally tucked into a favorite page in a favorite book.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This story makes me believe (again) that mail, and persistent goodness, can actually change hearts. This could be the book that our digital natives remember with anachronistic fondness, slip off the shelf, into an oversized envelope, and mail to their sweethearts. Who needs a boombox when you\u2019ve got a hardcover?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2013 Mk Smith Despres<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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GET JIRO: BLOOD AND SUSHI \u2014 A COMIC FROM THE SICK, TWISTED, AND FOOD-OBSESSED MIND OF ANTHONY BOURDAIN<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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Get Jiro: Blood and Sushi<\/em>
by Anthony Bourdain, Joel Rose
Vertigo
2015, 160 pages, 7 x 0.5 x 10.5 inches, Hardcover<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Buy on Amazon<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like Sushi? Like hyper violent yakuza movies? Get Jiro: Blood and Sushi<\/em> is a comic that could only have come from the sick, twisted, and food-obsessed mind of Anthony Bourdain. And I\u2019m pretty sure he\u2019d take the whole sick and twisted mind thing, as the compliment it was intended to be. The latest book, Blood and Sushi<\/em> is a prequel to 2013\u2019s Get Jiro!<\/em>, this time we learn the backstory of how Jiro went from Yakuza enforcer to renowned LA sushi chef.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By day, Jiro helps run his father\u2019s crime empire along with his maniacal half-brother, but by night Jiro trains to become a master Sushi Chef. Those two sides of him are on a collision course that plays out across Japan, and leaves a bloody wake. The artwork is incredible. Each frame balances the futuristic Japan, the beauty of the cuisine, and the grizzly katana-induced carnage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This comic is full bore, unhinged, Bourdain madness. If you\u2019re familiar with his travel shows, then you\u2019ve probably gotten a taste of his dark humor, disdain for vegetarians, and obscure cinematic references \u2014 but the Jiro series takes it to a new level. It\u2019s violent. It\u2019s weird. I can\u2019t get enough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2013 JP LeRoux<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Issue No. 46<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13684,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[31],"tags":[2398],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43383"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13684"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43383"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43383\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":43401,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43383\/revisions\/43401"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43383"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43383"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43383"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}