“Secret Shame” is a refreshing read about common facets of everyday life

Secret Shame

Zine, Carolina Gonzalez, 24 pgs, @Caroluppe, [email protected]

This great green zine is a study in pure realism. From its kelly green cover to its big, block font, everything about this zine is completely legit and quasi-confessional, detailing a few secrets, some laughs and not much else. It’s refreshing. Carolina Gonzalez is the author, the owner and the confessor. She tells stories about dumb stuff she did when she was younger, the kind of dumb stuff we all do pretty much constantly at all ages. Genres include: little shopping faux-pas, work mess-ups, food-based follies, etc. The kind of things that make us cringe and recoil at the time, but fade into near nothingness in no time. In that spirit, it’s amazing she even remembered many of these instances, because they’re kind of just slivers of everyday life that would generally be forgettable. That’s part of the reason Secret Shame is so effective. It collects all these items in one place, unpacks ‘em, laughs at ‘em, and then tosses them aside for eternity. Some might call this zine brave but more so I think it’s fun, funny and oddly centred for the times we live in. Self-awareness is in short supply these days and it appears on the surface that Gonzalez has plenty, seeing as she’s willing to share and dish a few pieces of micro-advice along the way. Thanks.