My mind has been on Cintra Wilson lately, for some reason.  She not too recently ended her hilarious fashion-criticism shoppers guide in New York mag - The Critical Shopper - and I hope she give us something new soon.  She published an novel in 2004 called Colors Insulting To Nature - a family drama of the eighties very worth reading.  She first came to my notice from her short story on the USA bookshelf - The Abounding Gutter;

                          "A total love rocket pulled up outside: a perfect 1967 Pontiac Tempest, loud and
                           proud. Custom license plate: GODARD.  And a slick guy got out, all hip and angular,
                           greasy blond hair all high and bent over like tall grass somebody sat in, green sharkskin
                           suit, polished black steel-toed boots.  He got out and walked in all concave, like he
                           needed to protect us from his royal coolness or he might accidentally freeze our eyeballs.
                           We were riveted."

The "tall grass" is pretty good, but the "all concave" nails it.

     There's a new book out, Where'd You Go, Bernadette? by Maria Semple which is very funny and fast moving, about a post-millenial family in Seattle and what happens when their daughter gets perfect grades all through middle school and then demands her parents keep their end of the deal -- a family trip to Antarctica! There's a lot more to the story than that, but it's funny all the way through.

     The Perfect Gentleman / A Muslim Boy Meets the West  by Imran Ahmad. EVERYONE should read this book. It's an autobiography taken year by year (it's divided into school years) of this young man from Pakistan (originally) who grows up in England.  It's very informative about Islam, as well as being smart and self-deprecatingly funny, in the British way.