Sideways – Rex Pickett and Up in the Air – Walter Kirn

Available for $10.17 (both!) in paperback at Amazon.com

Buy them if: You’re a sucker for books that have “Now a Major Motion Picture” printed on the cover

Don’t buy them if: You’re excited for books that will exceed the films. They don’t.

Until very recently, I could only think of a single film that rated as superior to the book upon which it was based. (Extraordinarily, Annie Proulx met her match in Ang Lee of all people…) And then somehow, in the span of two months, not one, but two books made their way into my hands...and then promptly fell short of the precedent set by their silver screen dopplegangers.

Both Sideways and Up in the Air were heralded as smart little films, succeeding with quirky characters and elegantly realistic worlds, each devoid of Hollywood glamorizing. If anything, the human flaws and the dull settings gave these slightly askew visions of life a cache of credibility. The big screen Miles and Jack were certainly compelling - if slightly unlikeable – anti-heroes. And while I didn’t love the film version of Walter Kirn’s ‘Airworld’ tale, I could certainly relate to characters for whom flight attendants and plastic silverware are standard parts of a workday.

Given this, who wouldn’t be queuing up to grab a copy of the paperback in their local bookstore? After all, the book is always better than the film, right? At first glance, Sideways offers support for this maxim. There go the same characters, launching off on the same wine-soaked adventure. It’s no trouble at all conjuring a mental image featuring Paul Giamatti and Thomas Haden Church. In fact, you won’t start to notice discrepancies for quite some time. The book, like the film, moves through entertainingly harmless descriptions of ‘boys being boys’ alcohol-soaked revelry. It follows the pair gamely as one seeks wine-induced euphoria while the other pursues a more risqué siren’s call before his impending nuptials. All in all, a good, clean (well, for a story centered on DUIs and cuckolding) tale.

But at some point the words take a loopy turn away from realism and the whole thing begins to derail. The movie was wise to include only hints of the really silly scenes as a means to set off its more depressing tones, but author Hackett goes at them full throttle with a style that is more Al Franken – pre-Senate version, of course – than I would prefer. Somewhere around the mythical, midnight boar hunt, Hackett loses a grip on the pseudo-realism that director Alex Payne manages to maintain through to the movie’s conclusion. As a book, it’s still a welcome diversion from the real world, but as a fictional narrative it can only manage second place to its Hollywood successor.

Meanwhile, the cool, jaded and Clooney-ized Up in the Air available at your local Redbox offers such a distant take on Walter Kirn’s original (the pages and binding version) it could very well be marketed under a wholly different title and easily rendered unrecognizable. Kirn should be grateful this never came to pass. He would certainly sold far fewer copies! While the film itself doesn’t emerge flawless, the literary version is far more encumbered by woe, ego and depression that weigh too heavily and without balance.

Like Sideways, the novel is a bit overplagued by characters that operate a little too far outside reality for a reader to really identify – and therefore empathize – with them. Don’t get me wrong, I love the fantastic. To me, pure fictional storytelling, unyielding to reality, remains hallowed ground. But you can’t have it both ways. Using reality to excuse characters’ disingenuous actions, thoughts and words just feels like cheating when they are otherwise unbounded by these rules. It feels…icky. Like a setup. Don’t ask me to choose between Door Number One and Door Number Two and, oh by the way, please ignore the screaming behind Two, it’s nothing to be concerned with…

Such is the feeling you might get paging through a tale that oddly juxtaposes real entities – Mariott and MGM – with oddly familiar figments like ‘Desert Air’ and ‘MythTech.’ While it’s not completely uncouth to introduce what are essentially pseudonyms for real-world counterparts, the resulting interactions feel disjointed. It’s as if J.K. Rowling asked you to believe that Hogwarts students don’t eat. Flying broomsticks? Sure. People who don’t get hungry? It’s fiction out of context, something that subtly plagues the entire length of this book. Not enough to pain, but adequately annoying.

All in all, even without flaws serious enough to dock Up in the Air major points, there are enough minor blemishes to recommend against it. If you were hoping for fuller, more nuanced take on the what you saw in theaters…you got the best there is already. With popcorn. Quit while you’re ahead.

They Call Me Baba Booey – Gary Dell’Abate and Chad Millman

$12.50 in hardcover from Amazon.com

Buy it if: You’re a completist whose bookshelves are already stocked with Private Parts, Quivers: A Life, and Too Fat To Fish

Don’t Buy It if: The only memoirs you read are by celebrities themselves. Who cares about those peons behind the scenes?

Believe me, I am more than aware that a large portion of my ‘audience’ will take one look at the subject matter, smirk at a final confirmation of my obviously lowbrow tendencies and quickly dismiss this modern autobiography. But you shouldn’t and here’s why: Howard Stern has an immediately polarizing, completely galvanizing effect on almost any American clued in to pop culture. The catch? A huge amount of these people react to a name and reputation…having never actually listened to the radio program. Now, believe me, I am not going to advocate that all of my readers purchase a Sirius subscription and become avid followers (though I’m willing to bet some of you might be surprised!) But I will ask that you consider this book on its own merit, because ‘shock jock’ cache aside, it’s a fairly interesting read.

Gary ‘Baba Booey’ Dell’Abate - Yes, the nickname is explained in the book - is Howard Stern’s long time producer. And had he set out to chronicle his time on the show, there is no doubt that his first whack as an author would have been – at minimum - full of entertaining anecdotes. But like the show he produces, this volume is not what it appears to be on the surface. Instead of rehashing glory days of lesbians, butt bongo and Jackie the Jokeman, They Call Me Baba Booey is an honest look at a how a few twists of fate, good work ethic and a sense of humor can deposit a working class kid at the helm of a media juggernaut.

Ironically, it’s the lack of focus on Stern and the show’s content that will captivate both fans and non-fans of Howard. After all, listeners already know what goes out over the airwaves, and haters probably don’t care. Instead, it’s an honest look at the forces that created a man able to withstand Howard’s most barbed attacks and come back stronger than ever. A severely depressed mother, closeted gay brother and angst-ridden boss are only a small portion of the people that formed the author’s personality. His ability to view his life with a (relatively) objective perspective makes for very compelling reading indeed. Even if the prose isn’t the most eloquent literary construction on the market today, the honesty and candor more than make up for it.

Case in a point: a jacket photo that’s as real at it gets. Forget the glossy glamour shots or fashion-coordinated ‘candids’ that grace the fronts of so many memoirs. Dell’Abate put himself out there in all of his mid-puberty, horribly mustachioed glory. It’s a supreme example of unequivocal self-deprecation and truth. In fact, this might the rare instance where you can judge a book by its cover.

“Stuff You Should Know” – Josh Clark and Chuck Bryant

$0.00 (!) on iTunes

Buy it if: You’ve ever been a subscriber to Smithsonian Magazine. Or keep your car radio tuned to NPR constantly.

Don’t Buy It If: You think iPods are for music only and NPR is nothing but a commie plot.

Books can be wonderful diversions from the real world, or delicious slices of information about it. But the one thing they can never be is…safe to read to while driving! So, in a small break from tradition, Will’s Super Nerdy Reviews is officially recommending a podcast! For all of its pop-up ad, Viagra-selling, social-networking annoyance, every once in a while the internet lands something – quite literally – in your lap(top) that brings intellectual joy to the dot com era. And in the best of times, it’s free!

I would go so far as to say that the ‘Stuff You Should Know’ sessions are practically required listening in terms of keeping your ‘Super Nerdy’ status. (For those of you uninterested in the social sadness that can result, don’t worry, ‘Stuff You Should Know’ can also make you seem incredibly worldy at the cocktail parties to which I’m sure you inevitably get invited.) When you add in the convenience of being able to download them from iTunes gratis and store them on you iPod, iPhone, iPad, iMac and iEverythingElse, there’s quite literally no excuse for not at least giving them a try. (Start with the episode: ‘How Jack the Ripper Works,’ you’ll be instantly hooked.)

An outgrowth of the HowStuffWorks.com website, the podcast is essentially a very focused take on one of the site’s articles, a basic overview with a bit of background and quite a few fascinating tidbits to add some color commentary, all done in 20 to 40 minutes. (Being a podcast, there’s no real time restraint. And, like old time radio broadcasts, no interruptions once you’re through with the initial sponsor obligations.) Should the program sufficiently capture your interest, the website provides articles and information with far more detail on the subject. If it turns out that ‘How Crime Scene Clean-Up Works’ doesn’t hold your interest – though I can’t honestly imagine that’s possible – you can delete it guilt-free having spent not a cent on its purchase.

Of course, as any high school history student will tell you, content does not an interesting lesson make. It’s all in the delivery. This is where ‘Stuff You Should Know’ stands head and shoulders above the rest. Let’s face it, the world is littered with boring and pretentious people spewing stream-of-conscious drivel into their laptops, uploading it to the digital world and calling themselves broadcasters. Josh and Chuck, erstwhile hosts of ‘Stuff You Should Know,’ are NOT these people. Instead, they’re Riggs and Murtaugh meet Gifford and Cosell by way of Ernst & Young, self-deprecating wisecrackers that are as entertained and amused by the subject at hand as the audience. And always with fascinating statistics.

This is what makes ‘Stuff You Should Know’ so uniquely appealing. The tag team approach to their research means the hosts are as apt to be surprised by the subject matter as their listeners. So, whatever geeky question enters your head is probably in theirs, too. That nerdy chuckle you’re stifling is being shared by one or both of the hosts. They’re just like you - well, if you’re at all like me – and the half hour you spend together will make you feel amongst kindred spirits.

So, embrace that part of you still loves of old James Bond movies, rekindle the childish spirit that stares wide-eyed in the Air&Space Museum and download a few of the episodes. ‘Stuff You Should Know’ is at least stuff you should try.