Beneath the bright cocktail patter of 'Akron,' there is not only the whiff of smugness that often accompanies the irreproachably hip, but also a critical remoteness.

James Frey’s barroom machismo is the key to a swaggering recovery in his new memoir of addiction.

Greek Fire: The Story of Maria Callas and Aristotle Onassis
By Nicholas Gage; 424 pages; Alfred A. Knopf; $26.95.
America's Queen: The Life of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis
By Sarah Bradford; 500 pages; Viking; $29.95.

From the wilderness (the Adirondacks) comes a voice (Bill McKibben’s Enough) telling us that the end is near unless we repent (technologically). Scientists aren’t likely to listen.

Disney's controlled experiment in small-town life is both a little Utopia and a breed of fascism. But mostly, there's not enough there there.

Jonathan Ames hopes to parlay his quirky downtown charisma into cold, hard cash. But can a mid-list mensch make the cultural leap?

"East of the Mountains," David Guterson's follow-up to "Snow Falling on Cedars," is polished, heartwarming, civic-minded -- and devoid of mystery.

Recasting the business biography as a study in self-sabotage.

Frank McCourt's latest is another virtuoso display of charm and sheer likeability. But the suspicion arises: Is he really a misanthrope?