The Small Press Expo

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Was very excited to pick up this and Vivisection from katelacourart at SPX.

I’d been very intrigued by them on Tumblr - she’d submitted posts to share in advance of the show. And I was in no way disappointed.

While what first draws the eye to this stunning book is the brilliantly realized anatomical horror of the sort you see on the cover, what is really special about Kate as a storyteller is how real and honest she is about the borderless, taboo-free mind of a young child, living in a world for which she, as yet, has so little context or understanding.

In that sense this book really called to mind Where the Wild Things Are (if the Island Max visited was inhabited by the Great Old Ones from the Cthulhu Mythos) which in its own way is so truthful about the irrational rage and ruckus that resides inside kids. So much literature involving kids is strictly anodyne, and denies them the tumultuous inner life that we all know is what growing up us really like.

I guess what I’m saying is that Kate is pretty great. And also, I think she may have at some point had a few FaceTime calls with the Elder Gods.