InDigest Picks

Books:
Eating the Dinosaurby Chuck Klosterman [Scribner]
+ Another collection of essays from the master of personal musings on pop culture. Klosterman's wit and subtlety are unparalleled. In Eating the Dinosaur he tackles Garth Brooks, voyeurism, why people inevitably hate their favorite bands newest album, Mad Men, Rivers Cuomo and much more.

Look at the Birdie: Unpublished Short Fictionby Kurt Vonnegut [Delacorte Press]
+ More fiction from Vonnegut. Shouldn't have to say much more than that. Get your fill. I don't think they'll be a treasure trove of unpublished works surfacing any time soon.

The Red Bookby C.G. Jung [W.W. Norton]
+ Consistently hailed as the most influential psychological work that has never been published, Jung's elusive Red Book is finally going to see light. Jung worked on this fever dream for years. As a Dante-esque fantastical parable it mirrors of the evolution of Jungian thought. This could either be a huge let down to Jungians or this could be the biggest release of the decade in psychology.

Other Notable Releases: Noir by Brian Azzarello, To Try Men's Souls: A Novel of George Washington and the Fight for American Freedom by Newt Gingrich, The Museum of Innocence by Orhan Pamuk

Poetry:
Fire Exit: A Poemby Robert Kelly [Black Widow Press]
+ Black Widow, among others, is asserting that this flourishing book length poem will be one of the major works of Robert Kelly's 50+ years as a notable poet. Kelly is a prolific and established poet whose every work deserves some consideration. As usual, no exception. Check out some video of Kelly reading at the St. Marks Poetry Project in the meantime.

Music:
Flight of the Conchords - I Told You I Was Freaky[Sub Pop]
+ New Zealeand's biggest export is releasing I Told You I Was Freaky, a collection of jams from the second season of their hit HBO TV series. Some of the best tracks: "Too Many Dicks [On the Dancefloor]," "You Don't Have to Be a Prostitute."

Atlas Sound - Logos[Kranky]
+ Bradford Cox's not-Deerhunter band releases their second LP, and it's great.
When Cox steps from behind the layers nostalgia-inducing feedback (Deerhunter) there is a more sensitive (but not too sensitive) side to his songwriting that can even touch something a little country-western (kind of) and it's a beautiful thing. In my mind teh current trajectory of Atlas sound eclipses Deerhunter in a big way.

Cox is currently starting a tour with Athens, GA based Selmanaires as his backing band (they also open and are worth catching if you're debating arriving late).

Other notable releases: Alec Ounsworth - Mo Beauty, Converge - Axe to Fall, Do Make Say Think - Other Truths, Excepter - Black Beach, Sufjan Stevens - The BQE Soundtrack

IN THEATERS:
Night & Day (Hong Sang-Soo) [B.O.M. Film]
+ This glacial South Korean film follows painter Sung-nam after he is forced to flee South Korea on a drug charge. He lives on the edge in Paris. Never sure where his next meal is coming from (or that seems to be the premise, though he does alright). He balances his new working class lifestyle as an immigrant, with nightly phone calls from his wife back home, and his new-found love of a Korean art student studying in Paris. The film can be a little heavy handed at times. Striving to drive home the duality that has found it's way into Sung-nam's life. Or maybe it's just finally surfacing. The cinematography won't remind you of any of the other major names in South Korean cinema with their smooth round edges and over saturated lens. The picture is gritty and often quite dark. Yet, for all it's flaws it's a beautiful study of human infidelity and the short-sighted ways in which we forget what family means.

Night & Day opens Friday at Anthology Film Archives in New York. Potentially (and hopefully) hitting other cities soon.

Anti-Christ (Lars Von Trier) [Zentropa Films]
+ The Knowns: It's a striking, beautiful film. It'll get you thinking. It's a little nauseating, at times. This is one of the fall's must see films. The Unknowns: Will you throw up? (You wouldn't be the first.) Will the Oscars finally acknowledge Lars Von Trier's existence? How many people will actually go see a film with on-screen genital mutilation? (My guess? Fewer than are interested in flying robots from out space.) The film already feels as though it's the most talked about film of the fall. And that's no easy feat considering the subject matter covered in the film and the various ways it could turn people of all demographics off simply through it's grotesque scenes.

One last thing. Their campaign that almost was. Twitter posts the last few days from friend of a friend (etc.): "If you loved Bright Star and can only see one more film this year. Make it Anti-Christ." ...Don't believe the hype.

Other Notable Releases: Amelia (Mira Nair), Ong-Bak 2 (Tony Jaa Panna Rittikra), Rembrandt's J’Accuse (Peter Greenaway)

DVD:
Fados(Carlos Saura) [Zeitgeist Films]
+ Carlos Saura is a master of the cinematic arts and has never received adequate attention. Despite special screenings of Fados at a number of galleries around the US and a theatrical premiere, not enough people ventured out to see the newest work by one of the masters. (And can I just throw out that his Blood Wedding is one of the greatest things to ever happen on film?) Well, now there is no excuse.

Other Notable Releases: Cheri (Stephen Frears), Howards End (James Ivory) [Criterion Edition], Paris 1919 (Paul Cowan)

COMICS:
Celebrating Peanuts: 60 Yearsby Charles Schultz [Simon & Schuster/Andrew McMeel Publishing]
+ Because you think you look too snooty with just a copy of The Complete New Yorker cartoons sitting on your book shelf, if for no other reason.

The Book of Genesis Illustrated by R. Crumb [W.W. Norton]
+ R.Crumbs literal translation of the first book of the Bible in a graphic form has stirred the pot a bit. Crumb has maintained that it is a literal translation. His words can be translated as there is sex and violence, which the naysayers seem to want to deny exists in the Bible. (That's all there is in the Bible.) It's really a ringing endorsement that more than a few Holy Men have found offense in what looks to be one of Crumb's weirder endeavors.

Other Notable Releases: Batman: Streets of Gotham #5, Blackest night: Superman #3, Dark Avengers #10, Dark Reign The List: The Hulk (one shot), Dark Wolverine #79, The Invincible Iron Man #19, Punisher Noir #3, Skrull Kill Krew #5 (of 5), Vigilante #11