how to study for an M.A. in philosophy...or how to rediscover your literary canon

Jenny and I have been hanging out at the public library lately. After checking the philosophy section and seeing the usual stock shelf: 'History of Western Philosophy', 'On Bullshit', 'The Republic', 'Utilitarianism', etc., I decided to get serious about this coming postgraduate year and find the Tintin rack. I say rack, because at some point, the famous Herge or a misc. publisher decided to release 'The Adventures of Tintin' as a series of large-format soft covers that few shelves can accomodate- so you often find them on rotating metal display racks.
I found the Tintin collection easily, at the end of the young adult fiction stacks, right beside the comfortable couch with the sobering "This Couch is Reserved for Teens" sign taped to it.

Not sure why I like Tintin comics so much. They're not particularly good. They're often rather racist. And it's not that the humor or the artwork is anything to write home about. But, for me at least, they're absolutely fantastic. The only explanation has to be that Tintin comics form an important part of my first literary canon. No matter what my more mature sensibilities might object to now, the initial canon is unabandonable.

'The Adventures of Tintin' along with 'The Wind in the Willows', 'The Trumpet of the Swan', 'The Chronicles of Narnia', 'The Lord of the Rings', the stories of James Thurber and Robert McClosky, and 'Calvin and Hobbes' comic strips allow me to return to moments sitting cross-legged in the corner of the local book shop hoping that my mother would take at least an hour to pick out a greeting card. She never took that long...Ten Thousand Thundering Typhoons!

Last week we went to see Robert Altman's new film 'A Prarie Home Companion.' It wasn't till Garrison Keillor started singing the 'Bebop a rhubarb, rhubarb pie' jingle that I became sublimely aware that the classic Sunday afternoon broadcast from Lake Woebegon will always be canonical for me.