I didn't know the author or his series of comics or really anything and this was clearly not a book for me. The pieces are often the smallest possible slice-of-life, and an entire compendium of them was overkill. About a few pages in, I kinda get it, and while I know people have strong affection for him, this just didn't do anything for me. I read a little bit, got the idea, and then looked at the huge number of pages remaining and figured, no thanks. ( )

I've been aware of the existence of King-Cat Comics and Stories from shortly after it began in 1989, but I've never actually seen an issue as I was never into mincomics or zines. (Back in those days, if it wasn't the same size as an issue of Superman, Spider-Man or Cerebus, I felt it wasn't really a comic book.) I'd seen some selections from King-Cat here or there, but frankly I could never keep it straight from James Kochalka's American Elf stuff; they were both just daily diary comics I never read.

So I thought this collection showing up at the library was a sign that I should finally give this long-acclaimed series a try. Only this turned out to be a horrible starting place as it collects issues 62 through 68 from 2003-2007. I don't know what is contained in issues #1-61, but I assume it would have given me enough connection to Porcellino that when he spends several pages talking about his various haircuts and barbers through the decades, I just might possibly give a damn. Dozens and dozens of pages in this brick are just Porcellino walking around streets or moving from city to city to city or adapting silly Zen Buddhist koans or attempting some free form poetry. Mind-numbingly dull.

If it weren't for the sudden death of his father memorialized in issue #64, I doubt I would have learned much of anything about Porcellino from this book. He does not even really explain why he was moving so much during this period until the endnotes. That's also where he reveals he struggles with OCD and other issues. If your endnotes are more interesting than the body of your work, I feel cheated as a reader. I could almost see trying one of his earlier collections based on the endnotes, but at this point I'd probably approach it too defensively to ever get into it. ( )