Now Read This: The Week’s Best New Books

Top titles hitting bookshelves the week of October first
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The Best Of L.A.

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Paddle Your Own Canoe
(Dutton Adult, hardcover, $17)
By Nick Offerman
Best known for playing Ron Swanson on Parks and Recreation, Offerman talks childhood (he grew up “literally in the middle of a cornfield” in Minooka, Illinois), his early days in the business, and the spectacular seduction of his now-wife, actress Megan Mullally. And let’s not forget the pointers for growing a glorious moustache.
Out: October 1

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Hollywood Costume             
(Abrams, hardcover, $40)
Edited by Deborah Nadoolman Landis
Published in conjunction with an exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, this tome celebrates the costume designer’s contribution to Hollywood history. Essays from scholars, archivists, and collectors (among others) enrich images of costumes from the past 100 years of film.
Out: October 1

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Torment Saint: The Life of Elliot Smith        
(Bloomsbury US, hardcover, $17)
By William Todd Schultz
A gifted songwriter of the ‘90s, L.A. transplant Elliot Smith suffered from drug abuse and depression. One hundred and fifty hours of interviews with friends, family, lovers and bandmates sheds light on Smith’s life and career as well as his untimely and brutal death in 2003.
Out: October 1

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Stories II
(Viking Adult, hardcover, $27)
By T.C. Boyle
In this second volume of fiction (the first, Stories, was published in 1998), 14 of the esteemed writer’s never-published works appear alongside 44 other pieces from three recent collections. Written over the last 18 years, readers can expect to find everything from Boyle’s classic tall tales to contemporary pieces on air rage.
Out: October 3

The Best Of The West

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The Disaster Artist: My Life Inside The Room, The Greatest Bad Movie Ever Made
(Simon & Schuster, hardcover, $16)
By Greg Sestero and Tom Bissell
Cult fans of failed film The Room will love this history of “the Citizen Kane of bad movies.” As an actor in the trenches with writer, producer, and director Tommy Wiseau, Sestero explains the innumerable ways Wiseau defied the laws of the business.
Out: October 1

The Best Of The Rest

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From Scratch: Inside The Food Network
(Putnam Adult, hardcover, $17)
By Allen Salkin
Salkin goes inside conference rooms, studios, homes, and restaurants to expose the kitchen personalities we think we know, including Paula Deen, Anthony Bourdain, Mario Batali, Martha Stewart, and Guy Fieri (or should we say Guy Ferry).Out: October 1

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Autobiography of Mark Twain, Volume 2
(University of California Press, hardcover, $45)
By Mark Twain
The first volume of Twain’s life was published in 2010 on the centennial of his death (as he requested). This second installment gives readers candid access to the inner-workings of Twain’s public and private worlds, as if the famed author were writing directly from the grave.
Out: October 5

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David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants
(Little, Brown and Company, hardcover, $16)
By Malcolm Gladwell
In this new tome, the #1 bestselling author of The Tipping Point, Blink, Outliers, and What The Dog Saw challenges the ways in which we think about obstacles and disadvantages. If a shepherd boy could slay a giant, then why can’t we?
Out: October 1

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