Born To Run And Fail
A rewritten Bruce Springsteen classic--growled to perfection by They Might Be Giants' John Flansburgh--recounts candidates who ran for President, and lost. "Champs like us, Joey we were born to run!"
Arts & Life
Jokes, Fights And Controversy In A Frictionless Void
The way conversation works in the age of Twitter, it's hard to figure out where to pause and put a controversy in perspective once it's underway.
'New Yorker' Cartoonist And TV Producer Writes 'Honest Portrait' Of His Parents
Bruce Eric Kaplan's illustrated memoir I Was A Child describes his life in Maplewood, N.J., in the '60s and '70s. He says it's a way of keeping his parents alive, "not just for me, but for the world."
Voyage Through An Adventurous Alternate Universe With 'Basilisk'
Voyage of the Basilisk is the latest book in Marie Brennan's Memoirs of Lady Trent series; critic Genevieve Valentine says if you love dragons like Lady Trent does, now's the time to get acquainted.
American Archetypes On A Bloody Funny Path In 'The Harder They Come'
In his latest novel, T.C. Boyle is at play in his usual fields: California, baby boomer angst, fathers and sons. But critic Jason Sheehan says it's a gory, absurdist, expertly paced frolic.
'Crescent Moon' Counts Down To Political Mayhem
Fatima Bhutto (niece of assassinated Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto) has written several volumes of nonfiction and poetry; her first novel is a delicate but tense political thriller.
Centenarian Poet Was A Fearless Guide To 'The Country Of Old Age'
Poet and author Margaret Howe Freydburg died last week at 107; she wrote and published well past her 100th birthday. Her friend Nancy Slonim Aronie has an appreciation of a remarkable woman.
Change Your Habits And You'll Be 'Better Than Before'
NPR's Rachel Martin speaks with Gretchen Rubin about her new book, Better Than Before. It's her philosophy of how to create good habits and nix the bad ones.
A Ghostly Chorus Narrates 'The World Before Us'
Aislinn Hunter's new novel tells two parallel tales of two young girls — both gone missing in the same place, a century apart. Reviewer Jean Zimmerman says the book's tough truths held her interest.
A Filmmaker's Surreal Vision On The Page In 'Where The Bird Sings Best'
The multitalented Alejandro Jodorowsky turns to fiction (sort of) with a semi-autobiographical novel. Critic Juan Vidal calls it "brilliant, mad, unpredictable."