Fresh Lies

Fresh Lies – guaranteed free of any Washington insight, and full of laughs. Take it straight from a nervous man continually taking the pulse of the cultural zeitgeist, as he charges the halls of eternity in “Final Exit: The Marketing Campaign.” Hang on for the ride as he deconstructs everything from animated spokescreatures to rap (“Turn That Racket DOWN”), coffee to disarmament (“Those Pesky Nukes”). Journey into the twilight land of hope, cynicism, and conspicuous cellular phone usage on the campaign trail. Take your hat off to the great American pastime (“Swing and a Myth”), American cars (“Lament of the Crash Dummies”), and America’s most tragic cultural icon (“The Life and Times of Wile E. Coyote”). And quiver with unabashed delight as Lileks’s manic intelligence roves over such subjects as Satanism, genetic engineering, and Thanksgiving turkeys. “One might call Lileks…a young Dave Barry…Lileks makes the grade,” says the Cleveland Plain Dealer, and the St. Paul Pioneer Press proclaims, “It’s time we admit that the only sane reaction to life is a horselaugh, and by that standard, Lileks is a pretty sane guide to the (un)real world we grudgingly inhabit.” From fake logs to car alarms, school prayer to swimsuits (“Thongs! For men! Had the laws changed? Had men changed?”), don’t miss another word by James Lileks, one of the country’s wittiest satiric stars.