"False Witness: a Novel" (Ballantine Books), by Andrew Grant On her 21st birthday, Deborah Holt got an eye-popping gift — a new Mercedes — from her well-off, older boyfriend. She...

N.E.R.D., "No_One Ever Really Dies" (Columbia) There's a new N.E.R.D. album out so it's best to plan ahead: Carve out some time and be prepared to put in some work. N.E.R.D. albums are not...

"The Man in the Crooked Hat: a Novel" (Putnam), by Harry Dolan Grief can carry a heavy burden, burrowing into the heart, obliterating other concerns, sometimes even self-preservation, as Harry...

She made history of sorts at age 20 by becoming the youngest singer ever to win the Metropolitan Opera's vocal competition. Now, at the age of 29, Nadine Sierra is on the brink of stardom. It's...

It's hard for us cynical souls to walk into a movie advertised with the tagline "Choose kindness" and not shudder in trepidation. What sentimental hooey is this? What new hellish circle of cheese...

Neil Young + Promise of the Real, "The Visitor" (Reprise Records) Neil Young is unhappy. That's good news for music fans. Young is back and crotchety in "The Visitor," a record that...

With echoes of "Rebecca" and lavish Max Ophuls productions, writer and director Paul Thomas Anderson spins the tale of an obsessive fashion designer and his muse into a suspenseful and often funny...

Garth Brooks says he's happy to share the first of five anthologies he created with his fans while he's still alive and kicking. "Every artist seems to wait 'till they're dead, and I just don't...

Rose Marie's place in show business history is anchored by her performance as smart aleck comedy writer Sally on "The Dick Van Dyke Show" and a "Hollywood Squares" quipster. That is simply...

Blitzen Trapper, "Wild & Reckless" (LKC Recordings) Portland-based Blitzen Trapper's "Wild & Reckless" is an album of straightforward tunes, many taken from an eponymous combination...