Media Mix

A Quick Take on New Releases

BOOK

Death With Interruptions

By José Saramago (Harcourt, $24)

BASIC STORY: A brilliantly imagined fable wherein Death reneges on her duties (namely, killing people) and falls in love with an unsuspecting cellist.

SAMPLE GRAB: "I should explain that the reason that led me to interrupt my activities . . . was to give those human beings who so loathe me just a taste of what it would mean to live forever . . . [and so on for another 40-plus lines until the next period]."

-- Death explains her actions

WHAT YOU'LL LOVE: The Nobel Prize winner ("Blindness") continues to impress, once again exploring what happens when you take the rules of the universe, turn them on their head and ask, "Then what?"

WHAT YOU WON'T: The lack of paragraph breaks and punctuation, other than way too many commas, renders the story frustratingly tricky to plow through.

-- Reviewed by Alexis Burling

GRADE: B

BOOK

The Wordy Shipmates

By Sarah Vowell (Riverhead, $29.95)

BASIC STORY: The NPR contributor and best-selling humorist ("Assassination Vacation," "Take the Cannoli") puts her idiosyncratic spin on personalities that dominated the religion-fueled culture of the early American Colonies.

SAMPLE GRAB: "At his city-on-a-hill best, [John] Winthrop is Pete Seeger, gathering a generation around to sing their shared folk songs. [Roger] Williams is Bob Dylan plugging in at Newport, making his own noise."

-- On the personas of two Puritan leaders

WHAT YOU'LL LOVE: Middle-school history teachers should pay attention to how Vowell's funny, imaginative take on musty, buckled-up Pilgrim notables brings the era wickedly to life.

WHAT YOU WON'T: The undertaking would have felt a bit more relevant if Vowell had made more of an effort to contextualize the work. It's hard to get too wrapped up in what feels like ancient history when the daily news is so much more compelling.

-- Sara Cardace

GRADE: B-

CD

Dig Out Your Soul

Oasis (Warner Bros./Reprise, $18.98)

BASIC STORY: The brothers Gallagher continue the melodic comeback initiated by 2005's "Don't Believe the Truth," confirming they have indeed found the will to rock again.

SAMPLE GRAB: "Belief does not existence make/

It's only in your mind"

-- "The Nature of Reality"

WHAT YOU'LL LOVE: "The Shock of the Lightning" is ferociously anthemic, like the Oasis of old. Li'l Liam Gallagher wrote three songs, and they aren't half bad.

WHAT YOU WON'T: Liam's songs are not flattered by their proximity to those by big brother Noel, whose 15-plus-year experience advantage rings loud and clear.

-- Chris Klimek

GRADE: B

CD

Elephants . . . Teeth Sinking Into Heart

Rachael Yamagata (Warner Bros., $15.98)

BASIC STORY: Four years after her full-length debut, the Arlington-born connoisseur of the many (many!) flavors of heartbreak resurfaces with nine beautiful, mopey ballads; three middling rockers; then two even sadder ballads.

SAMPLE GRAB: "I remember what we said, as we lay down to bed/I'll be here if you will only come back home"

-- "Duet," featuring Ray Lamontagne (and you can hear his beard filling up with salty tears)

WHAT YOU'LL LOVE: Yamagata knows her way around a torch song, and she's got the pipes to pull it off.

WHAT YOU WON'T: Two songs break the eight-minute mark, but they're not the ones that make this two-part opus feel bloated. After 65 minutes, sad songs say only so much.

-- C.K.

GRADE: B

COMIC

The Alcoholic

By Jonathan Ames and Dean Haspiel (Vertigo/DC Comics, $19.99)

BASIC STORY: In his graphic novel debut, the celebrated author of "Wake Up, Sir!" spins a quasi-autobiographical story that stumbles from teenage blackouts to the shock of Sept. 11 as lead character Jonathan A. wrestles with addiction.

SAMPLE GRAB: "I had thought, at first, that I would just get sober again, but the booze had gotten into my skin, my psyche. I had felt some relief that day in Asbury Park. It was the relief of oblivion."

WHAT YOU'LL LOVE: With Haspiel's art imparting a manic joy and fearsome dread to the narrative, Ames recounts poignant traumas, sexual escapades and coming-of-age angst with equal aplomb.

WHAT YOU WON'T: Even sympathetic readers may determine that it's really self-absorption that's driving Jonathan A.'s self-destruction, especially given the abrupt ending.

-- Evan Narcisse

GRADE: A-

DVD

30 Rock: Season 2

(Not rated; Universal, $39.98)

BASIC STORY: In the Emmy-winning NBC comedy, conservative corporate suit Jack Donaghy (Alec Baldwin) dates a Democratic congresswoman, page Kenneth (Jack McBrayer) becomes addicted to coffee and Liz Lemon (Tina Fey) deals with her ex becoming a local hero.

SAMPLE GRAB: "A drinking contest? What am I, 12 and at my boyfriend's frat party?"

-- Jenna (Jane Krakowski) feigns a lack of interest in taking on the Teamsters

WHAT YOU'LL LOVE: The throwaway gags, such as Tracy Morgan's video for "Werewolf Bar Mitzvah," are even funnier than the main story lines, which are very, very funny. The package has plenty of commentary and deleted scenes from Fey and Co.

WHAT YOU WON'T: Sometimes the satire is laid on a bit thick (as when Jack's management of an inner-city baseball team mirrors that of the Iraq war), but that's a small complaint.

-- Greg Zinman

GRADE: A-

DVD

The Visitor

(Rated PG-13; Anchor Bay, $29.97)

BASIC STORY: After a Connecticut college professor (Richard Jenkins) returns to his New York apartment to find a Syrian drummer (Haaz Sleiman) and his Senegalese girlfriend (Danai Gurira) living there, he invites them to stay. Cue the immigration drama.

SAMPLE GRAB: "Now, Walter, I know you are a very smart man, but with a drum you have to remember not to think."

-- Tarek (Sleiman) teaches the uptight, classical-music-loving professor about polyrhythm

WHAT YOU'LL LOVE: The performances, especially Jenkins's award-worthy turn and Hiam Abbas's portrayal of Tarek's warm and worried mother, elevate the film from an exercise in white-liberal-guilt hand-wringing.

WHAT YOU WON'T: The commentary spends too much time on location details and not enough on the film's politics.

-- G.Z.

GRADE: B

GAME

Pure

(PlayStation 3, Xbox 360; Rated Everyone; Disney Interactive, $59.99)

BASIC STORY: This off-road ATV racing game focuses on the fun factor (perhaps that's what the ultra-vague title refers to), rather than overly technical realism.

SAMPLE GRAB: You build your own ride, part by part, from the chassis up, pretty much ensuring that no two players' vehicles will be the same.

WHAT YOU'LL LOVE: The controls are easy to learn, so it won't be long before you can dive into an online race -- against 15 competitors -- and pull off some awesome, high-scoring stunt jumps.

WHAT YOU WON'T: So what is up with that title, anyway? Thank goodness there's a picture of an ATV on the cover, or there'd be no chance of guessing what the game was about.

-- Christopher Healy

GRADE: B+