Twenty-Six Lies/One Truth by Ben Peek, Anna Brown (Illustrator), Andrew Macrae (Illustrator)

Twenty-Six Lies/One Truthby Anonymous

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December 02, 2006: Twenty-six lies/one truth began as an internet meme, one of those things that starts up on one blog or other and slowly or quickly slides around the internet. This meme was relatively basic: have someone give you a letter, and then write about 10 words starting with that letter. For most, it was a few minutes of amusement. For Peek, it soon became a method of examining how authors, including himself, construct identity through truth and lies. And despite that dry description, the result was frequently hilarious, often moving, and always mesmerizing. 'Words lie,' Peek tells us, as he explores the words of lies created by authors and societies and people, interspersed with real or unreal vignettes from his past. (He?s lying. Sometimes. Or telling the truth. Sometimes.) Each letter of the alphabet, except X, receives ten entries, allowing Peek to mingle stories with often brutal commentary: 'M,' for instance, tells a couple of stories about authors and murder, ponders about memory, and brings Mescal to guests in a bit which suggests that just possibly you might not always want Peek as a guest in your home. (Then again, as he tells us, these are twenty-six lies, remember.) Mingled in the entries are several short dialogues between Peek and another person, eventually identified as 'G,' sharp, fierce, usually hilarious. Illustrations by Anna Brown help flesh out the story. Check out, especially, the entries for 'Zoetrope,' for an example of what Brown can convey with sparse lines. Because of the book's unusual format, this may be a difficult work to approach at first, but it's well worth the read, and the moments of pondering what parts of the book are true, and which are utter lies. And if you have a dark sense of humor, this is absolutely your book.