Monday, February 17, 2020

"We got literature out th' ass ..."

The title of this piece is, as far as I remember, a Morgan Freeman quote from The Shawshank Redemption, as a trusty working in the library. It resonated with me, and has stayed with me through the decades.

Literature out th' ass. A perfect title for a bold new FMF© initiative! We at Th' House O' Foam© have always seen literary outreach as part of our mission - part of th' Foam DNA, if you will. From time to time we'll be releasing sumptuous limited editions of Th' Great Classics Of Literature Out Th' Ass. Heritage volumes you'll be proud to display in your own library of books!

 To start the program rolling, we present the entire run of Harvey Kurtzman's EC Mad comic, in vibrant and lifelike color! Conveniently comb-bound in handy .pdf format, you'll be able to read them on any household device, from Etch-A-Sketch to digital clock radio! Yes, dear friends, this is truly an heirloom collection that will show your friends and neighbors you really do got literature out th' ass!
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38 comments:

  1. Farquhar Throckmorton IIIFebruary 17, 2020 at 11:37 AM



    Calculated tales

    ReplyDelete
  2. FiveGunsWestFebruary 17, 2020 at 12:10 PM

    The Slipshod Retention......yeah, loved that movie....

    ReplyDelete
  3. FiveGunsWestFebruary 17, 2020 at 12:11 PM

    The whole collection............!!!!!!Wow. This is amazing and greatly appreciated.

    ReplyDelete
  4. mculticeFebruary 17, 2020 at 12:35 PM

    Hoo-Hah, that's some real stuff there!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Bob W.February 17, 2020 at 1:09 PM

    Unfortunately my etch-a-sketch was broken by one of my grandchildren (the little thugs) and I will have to read this worthy tome on my computer. Despite the inconvenience I shall carry on.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Farquhar Throckmorton IIIFebruary 17, 2020 at 1:19 PM

    I am deeply moved, at a fundamental level, by the interest in and support for this exciting new initiative! Who sez music blogs is for illiterate slobs? Why, th' Four Or Five Guys© is a veritable Algonquin Round Table! There'll be more Great Classics Of Literature Out Th' Ass in upcoming posts!

    ReplyDelete
  7. AnonymousFebruary 17, 2020 at 5:53 PM

    I will download with the greatest thanks but at 254.8 MB this is much smaller than my own collection of Mad 1952-2005 up to #460 (and extras) which measures around 6.51gb

    Does size matter?

    Will I ever get round to reading all or, indeed any, of them?

    Yours aye
    JJWombat

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Farquhar Throckmorton IIIFebruary 17, 2020 at 6:45 PM

      Close study of the post will reveal that this is the original run of 23 (?) EC comics, before it changed format to the larger B/W magazine. As you were.

      Delete
  8. AnonymousFebruary 17, 2020 at 7:38 PM

    Cheers Farq. I did check this out out after my premature posting:
    "Harvey Kurtzman was the primary writer for Mad from its founding in 1952 until its 28th issue in 1956. What began as a color comic book became a black-and-white magazine with its 24th issue."

    ReplyDelete
  9. AnonymousFebruary 17, 2020 at 7:47 PM

    Many thanks! - Stinky

    ReplyDelete
  10. Crab DevilFebruary 18, 2020 at 2:21 AM

    The GCOLOTA project is a great idea. Now, truth be told, I'm
    afflicted a lot like JJWombat, only more so. My Mad Magazine
    folder goes up to 2017, contains 550 items, and weighs in at
    nearly 11 GB. Otherwise, I'd be freeloadin' all up and down
    this one.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Hugh CandysideFebruary 18, 2020 at 3:11 AM

    My subscription started with #36, December '57, which I still have, but my furshlugginer copy is not in "collectible" shape, so this nicely fills in my gap.

    Potrzebie!!

    ReplyDelete
  12. apaulingFebruary 18, 2020 at 4:11 AM

    Your post's title recalled a copywriter I once worked with whose favorite assertion was, "I'm an artist and I'm sensitive as shit."

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Farquhar Throckmorton IIIFebruary 18, 2020 at 6:18 AM

      Maybe your copywriter was the same one who had a t-shirt printed up with WORDS IS MY BUSINESS.

      Delete
  13. Dave HeasmanFebruary 18, 2020 at 6:36 AM

    For half of 1961 I enquired weekly at the newsagents about the UK edition. I'd only heard of it by reputation, but that was enough for me

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Farquhar Throckmorton IIIFebruary 18, 2020 at 6:55 AM

      The UK edition published a letter I sent. It is my proudest achievement.

      But I hated the UK edition, with its stupid and clumsy text adjustments to make it more "comprehensible" to UK readers. Part of Mad's mystique was the baffling cultural references that lent it a genuinely surrealist quality that eluded the US market entirely. I only recently understood the image of a paper strip being torn down a cigarette to reveal the tobacco, which struck me as one of the weirder things I'd seen.

      The discovery that there'd been an earlier, comic book Mad was on a par with the revelation of Tutunkhamun's tomb for me - I found the original paperback collections in a second-hand bookshop, and studied them at granular level. I also manged to find a few copies of "Help!" magazine - pre-internet, this was real treasure, won through real effort. The complexity (and strangeness) of the False Memory Foam© header up there is in some way a tribute to that crazed complexity of pop culture iconography found in the pages of Mad, especially the work of Will Elder, as great an artist who ever lived.

      Delete
    2. B.B.February 23, 2020 at 9:51 AM

      Will Elder . . . (Little Annie Fanny fans?) . . .

      Up there with Jack Davis and Drew Freidman, fer(shlugginer?)sure...

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Davis_(cartoonist)

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drew_Friedman_(cartoonist)

      Delete
    3. Farquhar Throckmorton IIIFebruary 23, 2020 at 10:25 AM

      The Complete Little Annie Fanny is the next in our Great Classics Of Literature Out Th' Ass series ...don't change channels!

      Delete
    4. B.B.February 27, 2020 at 10:41 AM

      Yoinks! Er, or was that a Scooby Doo=ism?

      Jeepers. AM I shore glad I opened my yapper!

      Looking forward to . . . . looking back at it.

      What next, the Complete "Freak Brothers"?! No, wait, I bet Four outta the Five Guys ™ DID not inhale . ...

      Delete
    5. Farquhar Throckmorton IIIFebruary 27, 2020 at 11:10 AM

      Furry Freak Bros. is a swell idea .... not sure I got 'em all ...

      Delete
    6. B.B.February 28, 2020 at 8:04 AM

      This could go downhill, erm, I mean, down to the '60s "trash" pile quickish. Do we need someone to suggest a Crumb of a hint...? R........... I mean, OR would that be Crumb-y of me...? (Signed, Hon. Weirdo emeritus, Foist classh, PH&D)(PiledHigherAndDeeper)

      Delete
    7. Farquhar Throckmorton IIIFebruary 28, 2020 at 2:19 PM

      You betcha Crumb's a-comin' up!

      Delete
    8. B.B.February 29, 2020 at 11:34 AM

      Keep on Truckin' ! I mean, Crumb us!

      Delete
  14. wardoFebruary 18, 2020 at 10:17 PM

    Reading is fundamental. That, and potrzebie.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Farquhar Throckmorton IIIFebruary 28, 2020 at 2:21 PM

      How anyone can claim that an album with songs like all of 'em on Wake Of The Flood is crud is beyond me. It's a swell album. Deadheads hate the studio albums by definition.

      Delete
  15. MrDaveFebruary 19, 2020 at 7:46 AM

    ooooh, in color even ... that must have run up quite a bill duplexing all these copies for us loyal followers. Your generosity never ceases to amaze me. Thank you Farquhar!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Farquhar Throckmorton IIIFebruary 19, 2020 at 8:16 AM

      Well, I was running off a few hundreds for walking-about money, so I thought while the machine's still hot, why not?

      Delete
  16. TedhFebruary 20, 2020 at 4:31 AM

    Thank you. Nice collection of readings materials.

    ReplyDelete
  17. AnonymousFebruary 23, 2020 at 5:16 AM

    Met most of the 'usual gang of idiots' after Bill passed away at a celebration of his life.
    Had an almost a complete collection of the mags, but lost it all after a major storm/flood - also original art.
    What Me Worry?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. AnonymousFebruary 24, 2020 at 2:44 AM

      Should be a comma after 'passed away'!

      Delete
    2. MrDaveFebruary 24, 2020 at 8:36 AM

      I like it without the comma better -- what better time to go?!

      Delete
  18. SwanditchSeptember 27, 2020 at 11:48 PM

    Link sadly exclusive now :(

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Farquhar Throckmorton IIISeptember 28, 2020 at 6:26 AM

      Swanditch, I don't re-up literary masterpieces because I have to hunt for them through my badly disorganized external drives. Sorry you missed out, but try the Pirate Bay, if you can torrent without getting arrested!

      Delete
    2. MrDaveSeptember 29, 2020 at 1:55 AM

      Uploading now -- I'll post the link shortly!

      Delete
    3. MrDaveSeptember 29, 2020 at 2:10 AM

      Here you go! Unfortunately future visitors to the IoF will still be out of luck as the links don't last long (at least for freeloaders like me). Act quickly! (And hopefully Farq will honor my generosity with some honorific or another)

      https://workupload.com/file/DTQFJayxE44

      Delete
    4. SteemerOctober 7, 2020 at 10:45 PM

      Thanks ever so much, MrDave
      Appreciating all the fine work you and Mr. Throckmorton are putting in
      to educate us Philistines!

      Delete

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