Features
Kinky Friedman: The Ruminator Interview
He’s an accomplished mystery author, country singer, pet-rescuer, salsa maven and throwback cowboy. So, in his own words, "why the hell not" run for governor of Texas? We talk with Kinky Friedman about George W. Bush, the "wussification" of Texas, and his outsider run for office.

Hidden Tracks: "The Problem of Human Consumption"
By Steve Almond
This Ruminator exclusive features a new short story, along with commentary and insight from author Steve Almond.

Dining On Dreams
By Jim Dunn
As a Midwestern restaurateur, Jim Dunn had a pretty good grasp on eating out—or so he thought. Until he moved to L.A. to become a screenwriter, and realized he had a lot to learn to keep from being eaten alive.


Ruminations
A Momentary Diversion
By Jon Fasman
Jon Fasman is not amused by the comics pages. He looks at Chris Onstad’s online strip Achewood—and wonders whether the future of the newspaper comic is in newspapers at all.

Indian Takeout
By Jhumpa Lahiri
Pulitzer Prize-winner Jhumpa Lahiri fondly remembers family trips to India—and the suitcases full of food they brought back.

The Last Word: Hunter S. Thompson Remembered
The Good Doctor speaks for himself, with a selection from 1966’s classic gonzo book Hell’s Angels, in which the author explains just what it feels like to ride on the Edge.


Reviews

nonfiction
- Nicols Fox examines Mort Rosenblum’s new history of chocolate, and a succulent new collection of food writing

- Weirdo Deluxe collects the best of new lowbrow art—and hearkens back to the days of Bosch and Breughel

- Mark Athitakis on Peter Davidson’s wide-ranging examination of The Idea of North

- Steve Weinberg looks at new biographies of Jefferson, LBJ and Teddy Roosevelt, and whether there’s such a thing as a "definitive" life

Plus: Obsessing about the Guinness Book of World Records, worrying about the A-bomb, and exploring spirituality in science

fiction
- Matt Konrad reviews Marc Estrin’s The Education of Arnold Hitler, a fabulous novel with an unfortunately named hero

- Sarah D. Bunting delves into Francine Prose’s latest, a surprisingly charming tale of ex-neo-Nazis and Holocaust survivors

- Chuck Terhark wonders if John Edgar Wideman’s fiction really is all that much like jazz

- Laura Paisley on how Sarah Stonich’s new novel transcends its chick-lit roots

Plus: The Underminer ruins your life, and Tom Bissell is a stranger in a strange land

music
- Harvey Pekar wonders what’s happened to innovation in jazz, and presents his own hopes for the genre’s future development

- Mary Lucia critiques the Kills’ and the Sights’ efforts to break out of the garage-rock mold

- Nova Scotia’s finest rapper, Buck 65, gets some mainstream exposure for his bluesy mash-ups

- John Everhart celebrates the baroque pop of the Decemberists and Stars

- M.I.A. rocks like no other British/Sri Lankan former art student/revolutionary

Plus: Brazilian Girls are neither Brazilian nor girls; Woody Guthrie’s granddaughter lives up to her genetic promise; Omaha produces an honest-to-goodness rapper?

dvd
- Collier White interviews German New Wave cinema pioneer Volker Schlöndorff (The Tin Drum, The Handmaid’s Tale) about film and fascism

- I Huckabees mines the existential in search of comedy

- Paula Kamen looks at women, food, and Henry Jaglom’s Eating

Plus: The Incredibles get incredible and a first-time director makes a dramatic splash


The Crapshoot
all the lists you need
What’s new, noteworthy and necessary in movies, comics, sci-fi and mystery in the upcoming months.

the ruminator calendar
April and May in history, starring Madonna, Oscar Wilde, Hank Aaron, Tom Waits, Britney Spears, Alice B. Toklas, and the largest fish ever caught.

the perry bible fellowship
Our newest comic offers Nicholas Gurewitch’s surrealist take on the classic newspaper strip.

Unclassified