This beefy tome is jam packed with ziney goodness. In a format not totally unlike our own BP, ARG is full of articles, announcements and lotsa zine reviews. The quality of writing is high throughout, and the tone is on the sassy side. News articles focus on left-leaning activist issues like free-speech and the right to have your negatives returned from the developer. The articles on recent U.S. Postal service reforms show just how passionate the folks at ARG are about what they do. They warn those zinesters who correspond by mail about the postal changes because failure to address letters in the new, nit-picky fashion will render mail “undeliverable.” The ARG people even tell you to whom you can voice your concerns over such asinine policies. My favourite article is an instructional/motivational wish list/manifesto by E. Persimmon. If this article doesn’t make you want to create a zine, nothing will. And the reviews, so many reviews. Unfortunately our mag’s fifth anniversary issue gets a rather tepid reception. Ah well… One cool feature of ARG’s review section is the multiple reviews by different critics to which some zines are treated. Now, I’m not sure when exactly a zine merits more than one review, but reading different takes on one publication is definitely a good thing. (MP)
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