For instance: http://imgsrv.gocomics.com/…

I always found it hilarious that, whenever Spike came to visit Snoopy, he'd always end up watching Hogan's Heroes. Schulz was an infantryman in World War II—which, come to think of it, was also the name of the 300-pound cat next door. Wheels within wheels.

I love Steven Millhauser. Stephin Merritt, who's pretty picky, adores Kelly Link, and I really liked the two short stories I've read.

It's hard to pick one, because they all have great short stories along with ones that are either duds or just plain impenetrable by someone with my limited cultural knowledge. (It's hard to tell—I didn't realize his panel-by-panel description of some surreal comic book was a J. Alfred Prufrock riff until it was…

Top 5:
Looney Toons.

This sounds like an okay-but-not-nearly-as-good version of The KLF's "The Manual: How To Have a Number One The Easy Way", which can be downloaded for free from a number of sites on The Internet.

His solo comedy/msuic album, Shame-Based Man, holds up pretty well.

His solo comedy/msuic album, Shame-Based Man, holds up pretty well.

(Mr. Schumer loves the song — in the interview, he explained its message as: “It’s going to rain men, so you’re going to find somebody nice.”)

(Mr. Schumer loves the song — in the interview, he explained its message as: “It’s going to rain men, so you’re going to find somebody nice.”)

He does have songs about smoking weed with Willie Nelson. But then again he got Willie to sing a duet with him extolling the virtues of lynching. Clearly Toby Keith is a complicated man.

He does have songs about smoking weed with Willie Nelson. But then again he got Willie to sing a duet with him extolling the virtues of lynching. Clearly Toby Keith is a complicated man.

That used to get played a lot at Stephin Merritt's DJ night at Beauty Bar a couple of years back—around 3:00 am, right between the actual Chipmunks singing The Cars' "Let's Go" at half-speed and Komar & Melamid's "The Most Unwanted Song". If there was under a certain number of people left in the bar, I think he got to…

That used to get played a lot at Stephin Merritt's DJ night at Beauty Bar a couple of years back—around 3:00 am, right between the actual Chipmunks singing The Cars' "Let's Go" at half-speed and Komar & Melamid's "The Most Unwanted Song". If there was under a certain number of people left in the bar, I think he got to…

And, just to tie it all together, maybe the most common cultural reference point in Ball Four is Peanuts: here's the world's greatest X, tell your statistics to shut up, etc. Given the sort of jock vs. hippie tension the runs through the book, it's interesting to think about how Peanuts might have been the most…

And, just to tie it all together, maybe the most common cultural reference point in Ball Four is Peanuts: here's the world's greatest X, tell your statistics to shut up, etc. Given the sort of jock vs. hippie tension the runs through the book, it's interesting to think about how Peanuts might have been the most…

And I quote:

Reihan Salam, who does not smoke pot—though I wouldn't be shocked to find out his brain manufactures its own THC, like rats and Vitamin C—absolutely adores this movie:

This is great stuff, and on Spotify. How have I never heard of this before? YOU HAVE FAILED ME FOR THE LAST TIME, ROBERT CHRISTGAU.

Ssshhhh.