quimby's entry

I picked up a copy of Burn Collector by Al Burian for this class. I’ve kind of randomly read some of his zines, and he is still cutting and pasting them for two dollars, which is great, because it felt like a lot of zines were more artfully put together (which also means they are more money).
What’s cool about Al Burian is he pops up just about everyone- on a shelf at Quimbys, at the Metra station, or lost at Myoptic books. Everyone I know has had a number of incidents of running into him. The only reason why I feel this is important to mention is because Al Burian’s energy in his zine is the same in person.
What is interesting about his collection is the fact it’s a book and in his opening page Al’s insecurities as to why his work is being made into a book sweats through the pages. “The prospect of a book perturbs me. It seems to imply that I’m somehow graduated from the trenches.” I think Al feels he needs to justify why he is putting out a book and that he isn’t trading in one form for another.
I’ve never really thought about the politics of putting out a zine anthology. I guess that’s because, by the time I found zine’s Chicago’s scene was dissolving: There was readings and festivals, and I used to work at a coffee shop where CUL kept their archives. But even back then, people would tell me “it’s just not the same”. And I guess one of the things that weren’t just the same was zine anthologies.
I never looked at zine anthologies/books in the same way Al Burian does. I always looked at them as a way for a kid like me to catch up with everything I’ve missed out because I was born in the late 80’s instead of the early ‘80s.
That’s what Al’s zine anthology did for me- it caught me up with everything that occurred in his life/zine way before I had my braces removed. We go from hearing about stealing copies from Kinko’s to Rhode Island and then right into his head, reading about his anxiety about not being able to sleep. And I haven’t even finished the book.
I think the politics of putting out a zine anthology are interesting. Did he become a sell out? Was he only doing his zine because he wanted a book to be made? I don’t know. That might be true- but in all honesty I don’t think it is- I think in the case of zine anthologies a distro/person/whatever decided to preserve a zine, hold onto it a little longer then the copy machine paper could typically last. It’s not that Al’s written a book, it’s more so, he’s put together a zine that can last through dust and water damage.