Dorothy Parker's posthumously published collection is Poems; Camilla Barnes' debut novel is The Usual Desire to Kill. Both affirm: sharp humor can be grounded in pain.
Gloria is a new film from Chile that centers on a late-middle-aged divorced woman whose life is full of ambiguity. She's played by Paulina Garcia, who won the top acting prize — the Silver Bear — at the 2013 Berlin Film Festival, where the movie was a surprise hit. It opens this week in New York and Los Angeles, and wider next month.