Cincinnati author and architect Peter Seidel places his first novel, '2045: A Story of Our Future,' clearly in the tradition of dystopian fiction classics '1984' and 'Brave New World' and James Kunstler's recent 'World Made by Hand.' Seidel talks with CityBeat about his new book.  

The guy can talk. Words fly from his mouth at an anxious, wildly accelerated rate, which is ironic given that his writing is distinct for its clear, razor-sharp voice. Chuck Klosterman's hilarious and oddly touching Heavy Metal memoir 'Fargo Rock City' catapulted him from unknown newspaper journalist to Spin magazine staff writer seemingly overnight.  

The subtitle of the Mercantile Library's lecture series is "Writing to Change the World." Few people embody that sentiment better than George Packer. Currently a staff writer for The New Yorker, he's been doing exactly that in various books, essays and articles over the last two decades.  

The good news about Jacques Attali’s latest literary work is that in painting a startling and timely picture of humanity’s downward spiral, the author does not mince words or cop to his own smarts — that’s no small feat for a world-renowned economist, one that is especially impressive considering his counterparts’ failure to deliver even the broadest short-term fiscal projections without confounding CNN viewers on a nightly basis.   

The book jacket states Ablutions is Patrick deWitt’s first novel but it’s really, as the subtitle suggests, notes for a novel — notes made by a nameless fictional bartender working at a down-and-out Hollywood dive. Throughout, we’re introduced to a variety of characters who are patrons of the bar, such as Curtis — a disconsolate man with a law-enforcement fetish.  

The most historic Academy Awards ceremony might well be the one in 1968. The Oscars that year — for the best picture of 1967 — were, in their way, as revealing about the changes sweeping America as the Chicago Democratic Convention. The nominees were two radical takes on American culture, Bonnie and Clyde and The Graduate, as well as Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, In the Heat of the Night and Doctor Dolittle.  

Charlie Huston’s latest work of fiction is sort of like Hardcore music and movies that feature martial artists: It reeks of “dude.” Like other would-be noir writers, Huston can’t negotiate the fine line between the genre’s trademark kitsch and overt, meathead drama. The book follows Web Goodhue — a snarky former schoolteacher haunted by a past that’s rendered him traumatized and unemployed.  

David Kamp is obsessed with food. His popular 2006 book, 'The United States of Arugula,' is the culmination of this obsession, investigating "how food in America got better and how it hopped the fence from the ghettos of home economics and snobby gourmandism to the expansive realm of popular culture."  

It's typically part of my evening routine to post up in my apartment and totally unplug from reality by delving into a world of drugs, sex, ninjas, vampires and man-eating demons. No, I'm not suggesting that eating psychedelic mushrooms is one of my nightly endeavors, but rather indulging in the imaginative world that authorguy Christopher Moore creates in his bizarre, hilarious and consistently original novels.   

Steve Lopez, a busy human-interest columnist for The Los Angeles Times, was walking back to his downtown office some years ago when he spotted a homeless man on a street corner who was dressed in rags and playing Beethoven on a battered violin. Lopez slowly got to know him and wrote a series of popular columns that turned into a book last year, 'The Soloist,' as well as a movie starring Robert Downey Jr. and Jamie Foxx that will be released in April.   

Until his death in January of 2001, Gregory Corso was one of America’s greatest living poets, but sadly very few people knew it. And now that he’s passed into the Vast he clearly should be  

Maija Zummo and Ian Wissman want you to think literature is cool. That's one of the reasons they started 'Milk Money,' a handmade literary magazine on the cusp of releasing its fourth issue, entitled 'Weird Workout.' "If you want to read something that's cool, pick up a literary magazine that's cool," Zummo says.  

The festival in tribute to poet Gregory Corso, often called "the Last Beat," will consider his work and legacy through an art exhibition, lecture, poetry reading, an evening of music and the film. The term "last," in regards to Corso, refers to the fact he outlived other Beat writers, notably Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac.  

Founded in 1933 by Hugo Gernsback, 'Sexology' is said to be the first sex-related magazine to achieve widespread (relatively speaking) circulation in the United States. Not familiar? You're not alone.  

Keith Lee Morris' second book takes place entirely at a championship darts match on a single night in Idaho in June of 2007. Surprisingly for such a narrowly focused work, it's as compelling a novel as I've read all year.