Greta Gerwig has been an actress in 25 films, a co-writer on five and co-director of one. She's assembled wardrobes, done makeup and — thanks to her 5 foot-9-inch height — held the boom...

Mavis Staples, "If All I Was Was Black" (Anti/Epitaph) Mavis Staples seems to grow in stature the longer she keeps chronicling America and its contemporary woes. Her constant frame of reference...

"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...

Heather Graham says she was so frustrated by sexism and Hollywood and the dearth of female perspectives onscreen that she made a movie about it. She thought showing her experiences onscreen would...

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...

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...

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...

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...