Living Above the Fold

A comic tale with a serious edge, this novel by a former Adbusters editor takes place in a not-too-distant future when advertising pervades every aspect of daily life. Companies use phony car accidents and hostage crises as publicity gimmicks and hire professional “coolhunters” to ferret out new targets for ad campaigns.

Review: Everyone in Silico (January 29, 2003)

Life isn’t easy for thirteen-year-old paperboy Peter Paddington: He weighs two hundred pounds, he’s at the bottom of the school social ladder, and he’s struggling with strange new feelings about his male classmates. Even worse, his body is changing in unexpected ways — his nipples have started puffing up and speaking to him, urging him to act out his deepest desires.

Review: The Secret Fruit of Peter Paddington (East Bay Express, August 31, 2005)

In “The Accidental Connoisseur,” Lawrence Osborne undertakes a formidable task: writing an unpretentious book about wine. He starts strong, describing his youth as a good Catholic boy in London, where wine was an awe-inspiring holy drink, imbued with a mystical quality that belied its earthy origins in fermented grapes.

Review: The Accidental Connoisseur (San Francisco Chronicle, April 4, 2004)