Mitchell Zuckoff, Welcome to the Jungle
A wild and harrowing adventure/survival story Mitchell Zuckoff’s wild and harrowing adventure/survival story is the kind of thing you’ll want to recount in casual conversation, but be warned: I tried,...
View ArticleTom Mueller, Extra Virginity: The Sublime and Scandalous World of Olive Oil
"A substance of such prestige and volume, the ancient world's answer to sweet light crude, naturally attracted criminals."This is one of those books. You know the type. Maybe you’ve seen the ones about...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Five Great Stephen King Books That Haven’t Been Made Into Movies (Yet)
When it comes to turning books into movies, Stephen King is a hall of famer. Among the living, he’s surely the got the best adaptation batting average. He fares well among the dead, too, especially if...
View ArticleBaratunde Thurston, How To Be Black
An attempt to re-complicate blackness Attention, black people. Listen up, white people. Hey, everybody. Baratunde Thurston — author, political blogger, cable-news talking head, comedian, tech nerd...
View ArticleRachel Maddow, Drift: The Unmooring of American Military Power
There’s a sense of fairness to Drift that has won some unexpected hearts and minds “It’s not a conspiracy, there aren’t rogue elements pushing us to subvert our national interests to instead serve...
View ArticleLauren Groff, Arcadia
A hippie heaven goes to hell All utopias fail (seen one around recently?), but the undoing of the titular hippie commune in Lauren Groff’s fantastic second novel is exceptionally spectacular and...
View ArticleNick Harkaway, Angelmaker
Humor, intrigue and the secret life of mechanical bees Nick Harkaway is a master of wordy, straight-faced silliness. If you want a hint at what you’re in for with his marvelous second novel, look no...
View ArticleRegina Spektor, What We Saw From the Cheap Seats (Deluxe Version)
Still quirky, but whipsmart and breathtakingThis is not the album where Regina Spektor breaks free of that “quirky” tag. There are too many playful tics (she’s sort of a homeschooled McFerrinite when...
View ArticleAugusten Burroughs, This Is How
Life lessons from a best-selling screw-up Who does Augusten Burroughs think he is, writing a how-to guide to life? I mean, after devouring a short-stack of his harrowingly brilliantly hilariously...
View ArticleDavid Foster Wallace, Infinite Jest (Part II)
His masterpiece finally gets the audiobook treatment, and it's a doozyIf you’re reading Infinite Jest, you’re not fucking around. Nine-hundred eighty-one pages, plus endnotes. Or, in audiobook terms:...
View ArticleDavid Foster Wallace, Infinite Jest (Part I)
His masterpiece finally gets the audiobook treatment, and it's a doozyIf you’re reading Infinite Jest, you’re not fucking around. Nine-hundred eighty-one pages, plus endnotes. Or, in audiobook terms:...
View ArticleInterview: Ben Fountain
In Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk, the clock is ticking for the soldiers of Bravo Company. It’s Thanksgiving Day 2004, and after a long “victory tour” across the U.S. of A. — they’re all heroes, ever...
View ArticleKen Kesey, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
Still crazy after all these years: Cuckoo's Nest turns 50Now a half-century old, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest remains a powerful chunk of American literature. Informed by personal experiences with...
View ArticleRyan Holiday, Trust Me, I’m Lying: Confessions of a Media Manipulator
A media con man proves there's a sucker blogging every minuteAs epiphanies go, Ryan Holiday’s came pretty late. By the time the self-styled media manipulator decided to come clean, he’d already spent...
View ArticleJesse Bering, Why Is the Penis Shaped Like That? And Other Reflections on...
Raising questions (among other things) about the science of human sexualityJesse Bering is sort of the Michael Pollan of boners; he’s read up, studied up, sought out, asked around and second-guessed...
View ArticleDavid Sedaris, Holidays on Ice
Arguably the most memorable non-Jesus-related Christmas story of all time.Chances are you’ve already heard, or read, “The Santaland Diaries.” David Sedaris true-but-ridiculous memoir of his stint as an...
View ArticleJean Shepard, A Christmas Story
Reading the book behind the classic movie is like discovering Muddy Waters after a lifetime of Rolling Stones.Listening to Jean Shepard’s A Christmas Story is a little like discovering Muddy Waters...
View ArticleHarris Wittels, Humblebrag
One of our funniest comedians reveals the fine art of Twitter boastingTwitter has made great strides in the field of famous/non-famous-people relations. Now not only can we make our tiny voices heard –...
View ArticleUnwrapping Sufjan’s Christmas Gift
Brooklyn indie darling Sufjan Stevens will probably never finish his one-album-for-every-state project (48 to go!), but his holiday-music series seems unstoppable. By now, you should know the drill:...
View ArticleSufjan Stevens, Silver & Gold
Brooklyn indie darling Sufjan Stevens will probably never finish his one-album-for-every-state project (48 to go!), but his holiday-music series seems unstoppable. By now, you should know the drill:...
View Article
