If Darth Vader Actually Raised Luke Skywalker

“Er, he looks just like you, Lord Vader!”

What if “Luke, I am your father” wasn’t the beginning and end of pop culture’s tensest father-son relationship? That’s the premise of comic artist Jeffrey Brown’s Darth Vader and Son — a sweet, funny, charmingly illustrated story that imagines an alternate universe in which the Dark Lord of the Sith actually raises his son. From potty training to lightsaber batting practice to ice cream runs, the endearing absurdity of the duo’s dynamic makes for a remix treat of the most entertaining variety.

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Book Spine Poetry vol. 2: Get Smarter

“You are not so smart / thinking, fast and slow / this will make you smarter.”

For National Poetry Month, another installment of book spine poetry, on the heels of Monday’s first:

The accidental poets:

• You Are Not So Smart by David McRaney, one of the 11 best psychology and philosophy books of 2011
• Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman, also among the 11 best psychology and philosophy books of 2011
• This Will Make You Smarter edited by Edge founder John Brockman and collecting short essays on scientific concepts to improve your thinking by 151 of our time’s biggest thinkers

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Book Spine Poetry vol. 1: The Future

“I live in the future and here’s how it works: People waste and want everything in pursuit of the unknown.”

It’s National Poetry Month and, inspired by Nina Katchadourian’s Sorted Books project, I decided to have a little fun with some of my favorite books. Here’s a short, and somewhat dystopian, book spine poem:

The unsuspecting accomplices:

• I Live in the Future & Here’s How It Works by Nick Bilton, one of 7 essential books about the future of information
• People by Blexbolex, one of the 11 best children’s books of 2011
• Waste and Want: A Social History of Trash by Susan Strasser
• Blabber Blabber Blabber: Volume 1 of Everything by Lynda Barry
• In Pursuit of the Unknown: 17 Equations That Changed the World by Ian Stewart, fresh off this morning’s pickings

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