Harvey Pekar’s ongoing cold war against himself and a world that abides such an infuriating creature turns hot in his gripping new coming-of-age graphic novel, The Quitter. Pekar, the cantankerous retired V.A. hospital file clerk best known for his pioneering, autobiographical comic book series “American Splendor” and the award-winning film …

I have always been fascinated with franchises: on the one hand they represent the entrepreneural spirit given shape, structure and support — for a hefty fee of course — but on the other they represent the march of the formulaic, unimaginative and monochromatic across the global landscape. In the big …

Globalization marches on, supporting rising boats (unevenly, of course) around the globe. Average pay worldwide is expected to rise 2.4 percentage points above inflation in ’06, compared to 1.9 percentage points for ’05. Pay in the European Union is likely to rise by 2 percentage points over inflation, and in …

Taking the low-density marathon-type route, the Disney Channel began its family-oriented “Hauntober Fest” — a Halloween-themed movie every night at 8 ET/PT in October — over the weekend. We caught the charming-if-tepid Halloweentown High last night, about attempts by a well-meaning teenage witch to integrate the denizens of Halloweentown with …

The fairy tale really is over: the divorce of Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston became final yesterday, October 2, and a relationship that seemed — from the outside anyway — to be something closer than the usual to the real thing is officially no more. They went their separate ways …

We are pleased and honored to provide our readers with an excerpt of Barry Stoller’s fascinating e-book bio of record producer, impresario, musician, raconteur Terry Knight, who was tragically murdered at the age of 61 last November. (Knight scored the film linked above, The Incident). I (Who Have Nothing): The …

While answering a question from a caller to his “Morning in America” radio show last Wednesday (9/28), former Education Secretary William J. Bennett took issue with the hypothesis put forth in the book Freakonomics that one reason crime is down is that abortion was legalized, reducing the number of unwanted …

This morning President Bush nominated White House counsel Harriet Miers, who has never served as a judge, to replace retiring Justice Sandra Day O’Connor on the Supreme Court. If confirmed by the Senate, Miers would join Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg as the second woman on the nation’s highest court and …

Halloween isn’t so much a holiday anymore as it is a season, a time to get in touch with the dark and spooky, to recognize that there is as much we don’t know about the creepy world around us as there is we do know, and to acknowledge that tingle …

Most American parents, and kids for that matter, have accepted the vital importance of auto child safety seats for babies and young children: it’s the law of the land and you can’t even take a newborn home from the hospital without producing an approved baby pod. But when kids outgrow …