Zine Review: Unsinkable by Robnoxious

UNSINKABLE
Robnoxious (Microcosm)
Part Huckleberry Lewis and part Meriwether Finn, Unsinkable is a tale of life on the river—that river being the Mighty Mississippi and that life being a few months spent aboard the shanty boat Snowball. Now I knew punks lived on the streets and I knew punks lived out in the sticks. I knew punks hopped trains and criss-crossed the country like the hobos of yore, but it never, ever occurred to me that there were punks on America’s waterways. But there are and leave it to Robnoxious to provide me with an education on the subject. 

The subtitle of the zine is "How to Build Plywood Pontoons & Longtail Boat Motors Out of Scrap” and Unsinkable is a bit of a how-to mixed with a travel diary (I’d say it’s about 90% travel to 10% how-to). I’m not a very technical person, I don’t build things out of other things, so I was more interested in the human side of the story. The Flight of the Snowball, the journey itself started in Kansas City, Missouri and follows Robnoxious and friends, both human and canine, on a river voyage that ended in Caruthersville, MO. Floods, strong currents, and things that float off in the night were just a few of the hardships the crew of the Snowball had to contend with. Drinking, smoking, camping, chilling and letting the river set the pace provided the balance. It sounds like a soggy, muddy and sometimes dangerous good time. Also included is a humorous article on the Asian Carp by Savannah who got caught in a fish mosh by this invasive species. The Asian Carp fearlessly fling themselves at the heads of unwary water travelers and as a result can do some serious damage to your cranium. Come on, Asian Carp! That kind of rude behavior is gonna get your ass on a Long John Silver’s menu, but probably under a different name and very heavily battered—Chris Auman

Read more reviews, and always...always read Reglar Wiglar!
[Robnoxious]