Comics Briefly

Neal Adams NYCC Quest of Honor; 2009 Glyph Awards Submissions; Changes at Newsarama; Help Rich Faber; New Ardden Comic Series; Bluewater Plans Poe Comic; Gene Colan Retrospective and Anders Nilsen Exhibition

The Golden Age: Sarah Lawrence-Lightfoot

Renowned sociologist and MacArthur winner, Lawrence-Lightfoot documents the rich possibilities for intellectual growth and personal transformation between the ages of 50 and 75 in The Third Chapter.

Nonfiction Reviews

One Nation Under Dog: Adventures in the New World of Prozac-Popping Puppies, Dog-Park Politics, and Organic Pet Food Michael Schaffer . Holt , $24 (304p) ISBN 978-0-8050-8711-6 A Fast Food Nation for dog lovers, this astute and amusing investigative report offers a “journey into the $41-billion-a-year world of the modern American pet.

Children's Book Reviews

Picture Books I Heard God Talking to Me: William Edmondson and His Stone Carvings Elizabeth Spires . FSG/Foster , $17.95 (64p) ISBN 978-0-374-33528-1 Of interest to adults as well as children, this handsomely produced black-and-white book intriguingly combines photography, sculpture and poetry. The illiterate child of freed slaves, William Edmondson (1874—1951) experienced religious vi...

Web Exclusive Reviews: Week of 12/01/2008

This week's Web: the manufacture and maintenance of American racism, the disappearing culture of California cetaceans, trance states in human learning and self-help, and the long rise of women in advertising (no, Peggy was not the first). Plus! An audio fiction bonanza: Dafoe and Woods read King, Weiner reads Dick, Stuart Masterson and Glass read together—and more.

Double Debut

The Help Kathryn Stockett . Putnam/Amy Einhorn , $24.95 (464p) ISBN 978-0-399-15534-5 What perfect timing for this optimistic, uplifting debut novel (and maiden publication of Amy Einhorn's new imprint) set during the nascent civil rights movement in Jackson, Miss., where black women were trusted to raise white children but not to polish the household silver.

Across Continents

After two searing memoirs, Abraham Verghese writes Cutting for Stone, an epic novel following twin brothers born to a South Indian nun in Ethiopia who grow up to become doctors.

Fiction Reviews

The Song Is You Arthur Phillips . Random , $25 (272p) ISBN 978-1-4000-6646-9 A television commercial director strikes up a bizarre relationship with the object of his infatuation in Phillips's enthralling fourth novel. Behind his hipness and attitude, Julian Donahue is going through an emotional crisis that started when his two-year-old son died of a freak infection.

Broccoli Books Folds; Publishers Struggle in Tough Economy

Manga publisher Broccoli Books will shut down at the end of the year prompting a number of comics publishers to reflect on the economic downturn and its effect on category.

Publishers Show No Fear of Horror Comics

Horror is experiencing a big resurgence in comics.

Mister X: Still Sleepless After All These Years

The Mister X Archives hardcover collection is set to release on 11/26 from Dark Horse and an all-new Mister X limited-series, Mister X: Condemned, by series creator Dean Motterwill premiere in December, also from Dark Horse. Motter spoke withPWCW about the book's history and future.

Comics Briefly

The Kirkman/Bendis Debates: Let’s Do the Math

Todd Allen compares some printing estimates to sales estimates to figure out just who's making money at Image Comics.

Audio Reviews

Fiction Jesus: A Story of Enlightenment Deepak Chopra , read by the author. BBC Audiobooks America , unabridged, six CDs, 7 hrs., $29.95 ISBN 978-1-60283-495-8 Chopra's new novel expands on the themes advanced in his recent nonfiction title The Third Jesus. The narrative focuses on the mysterious span of time in Christ's life between the ages of 12 and 30.

Animal Planet

The Face on Your Plate: The Truth About Food Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson . Norton , $24.95 (256p) ISBN 978-0-393-06595-4 “Each bite of meat involves the killing of an animal that did not need to die,” Masson (When Elephants Weep) reminds readers, and if the advocacy of a completely vegan diet (neither milk nor eggs, in addition to giving up meat and fish) is not particularly new...

Fiction Reviews

My Abandonment Peter Rock . Houghton Mifflin Harcourt , $22 (240p) ISBN 978-0-15-101414-9 The engaging but limited perspective of 13-year-old Caroline, “the hillbilly girl that lived in the park,” reveals a highly circumscribed world. When first met, Caroline and Father are scavenging for materials to make a shelter in the “forest park” outside of Portland, Ore.

Children's Book Reviews

Picture Books What a Good Big Brother! Diane Wright Landolf , illus. by Steve Johnson and Lou Fancher. Random , $16.99 (40p) ISBN 978-0-375-84258-0 Every time Cameron's infant sister cries, his parents seem to have an answer: she's wet, she's hungry, she's tired. And once Cameron knows the problem, he's eager to help out.

Web Exclusive Reviews: Week of 11/24/2008

The Web this Week: Conspiracies! 9/11, JFK, and the Zionists. Plus: Hebrews on the high seas, New Mexico's endangered grasslands, a comedy sidekick tells his sordid tale, how to dress for any occasion, and how not to fit in—the succesful way.

Walking into the Dark Forest

Jan Burke, author of the Irene Kelly suspense series (Kidnapped, etc.), ventures into paranormal territory for the first time in The Messenger.

Nonfiction Reviews

Emotional Freedom: Liberate Yourself from Negative Emotions and Transform Your Life Judith Orloff, M.D. Harmony , $24.95 (416p) ISBN 978-0-307-33818-1 Orloff (Second Sight) offers a superbly written series of psychological strategies for maximizing positive emotions and minimizing toxic ones. A practicing psychiatrist, the author straddles the worlds of mainstream medicine and alternative h...