Saturday, March 29, 2008

GOOD IS DEAD. [The Cheese Monkeys by Chip Kidd]

By now, most students have had the pleasure of an unforgettable professor from hell...the kind that returns assignments with the scent of brimstone still lingering.
Meet professor Sorbeck: an art teacher at a state college in the late fifties. The graphic design prof is your typical, grade A nutcase who (like it or not) will probably teach you something.
One memorable chapter describes an assignment for which the prof hauls students to the middle of nowhere with nothing but a piece of cardboard and a marker. The goal: get yourself home using nothing but these supplies.
Here's how it'll work. The class will hide behind those trees, out of sight of the traffic. One at a time, you will stand at the side of the road, with your sign. A car comes by, you get picked up, it's an A. It keeps going, you drop one letter grade. ..Four cars and no luck, you fail


The narrator is a decent character, but you'll want to be his sidekick's best friend. Himillsy is the kind of twisted, unstable, free spirited liberal arts student that oozes cool. Zippo lighters almost too heavy for her scrawny arms, Raybans, and men's oxford shirts draped on her beanpole frame...did I say best friend? Hell, deep down you want to be Himms.

All praise aside: the ending leaves something to be desired, but it still serves as an entertaining read.

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