Reviews of The Aardvark

Some reviews of The Aardvark

From: www.razorcake.org

A well-written zine, The Aardvark is, to use their subtitle, “Celebrating words on paper.” The first essay is a reflection of Joseph Campbell juxtaposed with the author’s dissatisfaction of his employment at a bookstore. The Aardvark is an attempt by the author to “follow his bliss,” or to explore his relationship with books. The essays within certainly reflect this goal with one noteworthy and well researched endeavor about libraries and the change from being book-oriented to being a computer-oriented place. I read many of the articles that he cited in the article and came to a similar conclusion. The Aardvark packs five articles into its seventeen pages and mixes in a few pages of zine reviews. It’s a thought-provoking zine with a clean lay out and worth your time. (Red Roach Press, PO Box 771, College Park, MD 20740).


From: http://sddzine.blogspot.com/

Joe Smith aka Art Vark, loves the written word, particularly when those words are written on paper, and can be found in libraries and bookstores. He has a lot of opinions and theories as to the future of this medium and shares them throughout this zine, which is mostly what this issue is about. I really enjoyed reading about this as it is something that most people who love books and zines can relate to. These opinions and theories are not knee-jerk and appear to be very well thought out with quotes and statistics punctuating many of his points. There are also some zine and book reviews and a nice intro about what it means to “follow your bliss”. As a lover of hidden bookstores in forgotten parts of town, second hand store book finds, and the great zine underground, I don’t have the same level of anxiety about the decline of the print format that Joe mourns in this zine. I do, however, appreciate his take on it and look forward to more of his words on paper.

From: http://syndicatedzinereviews.blogspot.com

A zine for book lovers and library fanatics and basically anyone who loves to read words on paper. Convinced that we are in the last days of the printed word, Art Vark offers his desperate plea for folks to pry their eyes away from the screen and stick their face in a book. Mr. Vark's points are pretty persuasive, however, for those who have fully embraced the digital age and don't see the loss of the printed word as a problem, this zine is probably going to seem like an idealist's nostalgic whine-fest. I'm not saying that I see it that way, I'm just saying that there are folks out there who just won't get it. Regardless, I highly recommend giving this zine a read. It's a well-written, well-intentioned, quality publication. The introduction's theme of "follow your bliss" is very compelling. The discussion of bookless libraries is quite interesting and thought-provoking. A piece entitled "Words to Live By" is intelligent and easy to relate to. Several pages of zine reviews are also included. Get yourself a copy and read a few words on paper for a change.