A review by colophonphile
American Elf: The Collected Sketchbook Diaries, Vol. 1 by James Kochalka

Several things, among them Kochalka being named poet laureate in his native Vermont earlier this year, led me to revisit this great volume of serial quotidian serendipity. Another thing was parenthood. Kochalka's kid's-eye-view on the world may not have an inherent plot, but it does have themes (nature, music, creativity, love, food, and cats among them, often overlapping) and even a climax, when the eternal kid has a kid of his own.