"Adz" is my favorite record of the year and it's kinda sad not to see it somewhere, but yeah, this is a pretty strong list.

Of the Grand P.'s L.A. novels, "Inherent Vice" is probably the most consistently strongest (though "The Crying of Lot 49" is indeed fantastic as well). It is totally worth reading.

The Shorts
Has anyone seen the original shorts? For the longest time, they were at the top of my favorite Christmas movies lists.

And who do you read, GeoX?

This is a really great book. There's this whole gee-whiz demeanor in her voice that kind of masks all the horrible stuff that's going on but also doesn't. Any time Mapplethorpe shows up, the narrative is especially elevated.

Like any prolific writer, Rushdie is pretty touch-and-go. Like, "The Ground Beneath Her Feet" isn't that great, and thank God he wrote "The Satanic Versus", because what he tried to explore with "Fury" (immigration, the whole Middle East religious thing) just felt emptier, and "Salimir the Clown" is just…. Anyway, I…

Your initial mistake was bothering to take B. R. Myers seriously.

I thought he switched to Helvetica?

"The Tiger" is definitely recommended.

All these New Yorker writers have been having a great few years of books lately, as in like the best, most fascinating long form non-fiction books continually released.

Or just reading Rabin in general.

Including Christopher Hitchens!

Oh Chi McBride…you're so much better than that. Thank God this all but forgotten.

The Superman trailer was anything but subtle, and I knew I would like the movie based off it. (And I did.)

They're not saying life gets perfect, but it generally does get better than in high school.

Or Shahrazad.

You forgot Meyers. Considering her YA fantasy series is the only other one that really took off.

Meaning of 8. It's grandiose, overthetop, and just fairly fantastic. PLUS, it has the added benefit of having "Take Your Medicine" on it.

I Don't Know What I Hate More
I don't know what I hate more: "Ender's Game", which is so trite and convienent and poor executed and boring and unoriginal and unable to overcome its own silliness, or Orson Scott Card, who is all of those things plus having to be Orson Scott Card and a complete hater of "Little, Big"…

Regardless of everything, it's a wonderful song. Just like "Ys" is a wonderful album.