Cover Story: Literary Quarterly
Lighten up already with the best escapist reads of the season.

News: Model Behavior
Is it time to retire the mission?

Public Eye: County sheriff, assessor and district attorney to run unopposed in March election.

Notes From the Underbelly: Squab a la Vahl.

Work: Personal to anyone.

Space Banana: Comedian Debi Durst can't figure out why everybody else on this planet has the fuzzies for feel-good 'K-PAX.'

Billy Barber Thornton: The new Coen brothers film, 'The Man Who Wasn't There,' is a shave and a haircut short.

African Hero: 'Lumumba' works despite martyr complex.

Grinders: Elderly sleaze peddlers are profiled in 'Mau Mau Sex Sex' documentary.

Crafty Gaff: The Farrelly Brothers want to smirk and smile at the same time in 'Shallow Hal.'

Plodding Plotter: 'Domestic Disturbance' suffers from too-obvious villain Vince Vaughn.

Picture Perfect: The up-and-coming princes of sensitive-guy indie pop in Death Cab for Cutie are poised to claim their place on the throne between Build to Spill and Elliott Smith.

Jammin' Java: Bands on the Nescafé Java Jam played to 500 as if they were playing to 5,000.

Aural Fixation: Fuel and Club Ibex join the growing list of closing clubs.

Chang's China Caper: Szechuan meets Vegas, and Chinese food meets chocolate, at this excellently weird bistro.

Supple Cure: Margaret Wingrove's dances possessed a sensual grandeur.