Enjoying The Slaughter

Successful Slaughter (Self-Published by Marek Bennett): Bennett offers up a bit of a travelogue style series of strips about his time in Slovakia. The book opens with an immediate attention grabber rife with culture shock regarding cigarette warning labels. The creator uses anthropomorphic stand-ins that seem to be a bit influenced by James Kolchalka. While the main thrust of the story centers on Bennett being invited to a bull slaughter, the book is jam packed with diverse and entertaining cultural observations on everything from the military, to 9/11, to religion, to family, to Eastern European politics, to customs surrounding cuisine, drinking, and hospitality. The only really nitpicky critique I can give the book is that some of the page cuts have a slightly rough hewn production quality to them in that they’re not perfectly square and don’t line up. Other than that, this is quite a cultured accomplishment and something that makes you feel good about yourself after you read it. In my view, the best autobiography isn’t just futile navel-gazing, but it helps you a) learn something by exposing you to some set of experiences you might not otherwise be exposed to, and b) introspect and examine your own culture and sense of self because of what you just saw and read. Successful Slaughter fits the bill on both counts. www.marekbennett.com Grade A.