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Chapter 10 is the crux of the book; the author's grandmother learns, in 1976, of a report indicating that her son was taken prisoner in Laos, but the government seems to want to bury the report. This book really illuminated the POW/MIA issue, showing what families have endured to keep hope going as they seek answers about their children's/siblings' disappearances.

Jessica tells of her mother's trip to Paris in '75 to meet, fruitlessly, with Vietnamese and Laotian ambassadors. J. then jumps ahead to her mother's last days, when she wanted her daughter to understand what Ed (J.'s grandfather) and Jack (J.'s uncle) went through. Chapter 8 tells of Ed's family's activism in the 70s to get the government to look into the rescue of MIA vets.

The book opens with Jessica discovering, after her mother's death, documents about her uncle Jack's disappearance in Laos during the Vietnam War. This leads to the story of her grandfather, Ed, who was a prisoner of war in WWII; in the 70s, Ed goes to Southeast Asia to see if he can find out if Jack is a POW. Jessica herself goes to Vietnam in 2013 and recounts her trip there.

Liked Follow Me into Weird Worlds: DC’s Deadman by Hector DeJean http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/...

Liked Follow Me into Weird Worlds: DC’s Horror and Supernatural Comics by Hector DeJean http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/...

Chap.s 8 & 9: Achilles, contrasted with the culture of the Mediterranean (commerce, hierarchy, guile) represents the ethos of the Bronze Age culture of the Central Asian steppes, from where Europeans came.

Chap. 7: On Unity (with the past, i. e. opposing soldiers discussing their ancestry on the battlefield) and division (severing heads and limbs) in Homer; "alternating connectedness and separateness is intimate with the nature of existence, of the thinking mind, the experiencing heart, the world that weaves and severs."

Did Homer create epic poetry by improvising with chunks of even earlier epics, or were his works created and memorized in a whole, deliberate way? Nicolson says, yes.

Fun factoids I picked up: "Odyssey" and "odious" have the same root, and there were no chickens in Europe when Homer was alive--they came west from Persia around 500 B.C.

Mo science, mo problems.

Just started and already we're into filters on respirators and why the pathogens in your poop make it safe fertilizer if you're just growing food for you. My cousin Travis should check this one out.

The Road to Oz may be the most dreamlike of the tales, and The Emerald City of Oz is the most Harry Potter-esque--great meancing villains.

The narration by the infant is one of the best things about this--and there are many good things. The character design for The Stalk is one of the most disturbing images I've ever seen in a comic.

So far I'm really enjoying this book. Wildly unpredictable and a terrific voice. I'm in crime-lit heaven.