Books Sometimes a Great Movie: Paul Newman, Ken Kesey and the Filming of the Great Oregon Novel (Nestucca Spit Press, 158 pages, $30) is a failure. Harsh words, but its author might agree. Matt Love, a ... More

Books James Bernard Frost’s new zine-style novel, A Very Minor Prophet, couldn’t be any more Portland if it were topped with bacon and served at a food cart by a man wearing an ironic T-shirt. This ... More

Books Fed up as aides debated whether he should mention civil rights in his first speech to Congress after the assassination of John F. Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson once asked, “What the hell’s the presi ... More

Books A.J. Jacobs is a mouth breather. He has, per his own description, the body of “a python that swallowed a goat.” After coming down with pneumonia while on  a tropical vacation, he decided ... More

Books There are only two notable alumni of Ohio’s Revere High School. John “Derf” Backderf draws The City, a Crumby comic appearing in alternative weekly newspapers like (but not) this one. Jeffre ... More

Books Nearly 20 years ago, best-selling author Anne Lamott released Operating Instructions, a memoir of her son’s first year of life and her first year as a single mother. For her latest book, Some Assemb ... More

Books Cheryl Strayed has come a long way since finishing a book about walking a long way. This year alone, she revealed herself as the writer of the candid advice column “Dear Sugar” on the Rumpus ... More

Books It seems like no one played soccer in Portland before 1975. The next year, kids crowded parks and fields to try this undiscovered sport. My middle school was unprepared for the onslaught. “We ... More

Books Some gay people prefer to be called faggots. Well, let me rephrase that—some queers prefer to be called faggots. The word “faggot,” much like “queer,” has been reappropriated as a word o ... More

Books We love to hate. Reality television aside, few arenas highlight our hatred better than politics. In the 1800 presidential election, Thomas Jefferson’s campaign called John Adams “a hideous h ... More

Books-x On the cynical face of it, it is unsurprising that Tom Rachman’s debut novel, The Imperfectionists (The Dial, 288 pages, $15), has been a darling among the newspaper and magazine press over this ... More