From Blaise Larmee: Hall Hassi made a minicomic version of Kramer’s Ergot 7, which she calls her ‘ke7 zine.’ The new size is only 5.5 x 8.5 inches. It’s 96 xeroxed pages, really pushing the limit of the saddlestich binding but still holding together, and exactly like the original with some minor (I...

The best book you are not reading because it's been widely ignored is Matthew Specktor's That Summertime Sound. How does a book this intimate and honest and real get overlooked? It's depressing to think about. The book's about obsession and...

I briefly step on KT's toes to note that today marks an astonishing 29 years since John Lennon was murdered, a loss that's surprisingly raw all these years later. One day I'll write about my memories of my 16-year-old self...

Big Rabbit’s Bad Mood by Ramona Badescu and Delphine Durand The most charming kids book I read this year (original review). Delphine Durand’s illustrations are pure joy, and could melt the heart of anyone who forgot how much fun drawing can be. Pictorial Webster’s: A Visual Dictionary of...

Over a year ago, in a conversation with my editor, I confessed that I'd been struggling -- really struggling -- with the second novel. I speculated that this could have something to do with the publication of the first novel,...

In the fall of 1997 I had a lot of raking to do, but my friends dragged me up to the University of Chicago instead. Kurt Vonnegut was there, reading from his new book, Timequake. During an extended discussion with the moderator, the old man made a keen point about what challenges an audience’s sympathies [...]

Victim, screaming frantically into phone: "911? 911? This is gonna sound crazy, but -- he has a spoon, he's attacking me with a spoon... and it HURTS LIKE HELL! Help!" The Horribly Slow Murderer with the Extremely Inefficient Weapon. (Thanks, Bobby C!)...

At only 2 millimeters across, this is the world's smallest orchid. EcoMinga ecologist Lou Jost collected a different plant in Ecuador and later found this tiny orchid hidden in the roots. From National Geographic: The newfound orchid, part of the Platystele genus, hasn't yet had the type of...

In 1976, David Bowie famously told us that "Rock has always been the devil's music." I enjoy hearing about the real or rumored occult influences on rock and roll, and famous musicians' interests in the "dark arts." Gary Lachman's "Turn Off Your Mind" and Erik Davis's book on Led Zeppelin IV are fun...