Speed Reads: March's Literary Landscape at a Glance
After the Workshop: A Novel By John McNally, out now
A former Iowa MFA grad suffering from writers block and working as a media escort for successful writers must face the accomplishments of others and his own failures in this skewering of the writing life.
To Sound in the Know: McNally himself worked as a media escort and went to Iowa for his MFA.Whats up now, bitches?
Lucha Loco By Malcolm Venille, out now
A collection of portraits of luchadors, those tiny Mexican wrestlers in elaborate and fabulous costumes who fight in the Lucha Libre style.
To Sound in the Know: Nacho Libre, Jack Blacks opus on Lucha Libre, was based on a true story of a priest turned luchador.
Rock and Hard Places By Andrew Mueller, out now
The new edition of the rock classic is a collection from seven years of following bands like U2 and Def Leppard as they travel to strange locations all over the world.
To Sound in the Know: In his journalism career, Mueller has interviewed stone cold foxes from Benazir Bhutto to Helena Christensen.
The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine By Michael Lewis, out now
The author of Liars Poker and The Blind Side explores how 2008 Wall Street exploded/imploded/ kaboom-ploded. To Sound in the Know: Lewis published a heavily emailed, early postmortem on Wall Street in Portfolio in Nov. 2008.
The Changeling By Kenzaburo Oe, out now
A 60-year-old author receives a set of cassette tapes containing monologues from a longtime friend and movie director that culminates in the friends suicide. Existential wandering ensues. To Sound in the Know: Oe drew inspiration from the actions of his brother-in-law, a famous director named Juzo Itami, who committed suicide in 1997.
Look at This F*cking Hipster By Joe Mande, out Mar. 30
A collection of photos from the website that skewers hipsters from Williamsburg, Silver Lake and any skinny-jean haven in between.The asterisk is his, not ours. Fuck fuck fuck. To Sound in the Know: Mande started the website to explain to his dad what a hipster was.
Solar By Ian McEwan, out Mar. 30
A Nobel-prize winning physicist sells out and then tries to win back his wife and reputation through a solar energy initiative in this new novel from Booker Prize-magnet McEwan. To Sound in the Know:
In a departure for emo McEwan, this novel is billed as a comedy.