Aside from the absolutely fabulous design of this unusual zine, which has a feeling of those 1950s retro-type advertisements, and the printing, which looks and feels 100 percent professional, the Parisian Guide du Plotz has an amazing bit of content. For $2, you travel with the "Jewgirl in Paris" as she navigates her way through the city, sharing her observations. With the clarity and detail of a travelogue and the attitude of a zine, Barbara has put together a great little package.

All throughout this zine are interesting little Parisian stories -- from shoe shopping in Paris to meeting the boy du jour to a hilarious little vignette titled "How do you say -- bitch -- in francais?" The style of writing is friendly and polished, like a letter from a dramatic friend. Dialogue is used selectively, making it more like a story than a narrative, and it works. It's one of the few zines I've seen to use this type of style, and it communicates a lot about the writer without saying anything directly. Why she's not publishing commercially, I don't know.

One of the pages at the back is a sidenote of Yiddishisms -- this issue it's "pitseleh," and she correlates that with a French lesson. (For the strictly English-speaking among us, it means "little bit.")

You can't go wrong with this zine, and luckily, even her back issues are available for a buck and two stamps. She doesn't do subscriptions, but there's an email list available to find out when the next update comes out. And if that's not enough, she'll also silk-screen a Plotz t-shirt for you for just a few bucks. Plunk down the $2 for the guide to Paris -- send it to Barbara at P.O. Box 819, Stuyvesant Station, New York, NY 10009. You won't be sorry.

[ by Elizabeth Badurina ]
Rambles: 29 September 2001