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"Live Fast, Write Often." Am I the only person who thinks that this line in a full-page ad in Tuesday's NY Times for the new book A Wolf at the Table is hilarious?

"The First Memoir In Five Years From Augusten Burroughs."

Hey, Augusten, stop slackin'!

(And this, also, struck us as amusing: "Available on CD and Digital Download from Macmillan Audio. Featuring Exclusive All New Original songs inspired by A WOLF AT THE TABLE from: Ingrid Michaelson, Tegan Quin from Tegan and Sara, Sea Wolf, and Patti Smith." We guess it's not enough to have a horrible, abusive, aloholic father. Now you have to have songs inspired by him.) --Meredith Brody

If you've got some free time around 7 p.m. tonight, Keith Gessen will be reading at Booksmith up on Haight Street. He got a glowing profile in the NY Times on Sunday, although the article dug into his controversial stand in the writing community -- he's taken on our local Bay Area icons Dave Eggers and McSweeney's, among other beloved writing stars. The n + 1 editor reads from his new book, All the Sad Young Literary Men. And look, even moms like him (scroll down for his name). -- Jennifer Maerz

(Photos by Jeff Enlow)
WonderCon has been a fantastic Xanadu of geekery thus far, with Saturday containing the majority of big money exclusives. Panel discussions from the X-Files creative team and Jon Favreau's upcoming Iron Man film were the sweetest payoffs, but there were lots more surprises lurking about. I wish I was a patron saint bringing you bootleg footage of all the juicy clips exclusive to WonderCon, but that wouldn't be right for the attendees that paid to get in. That, and the security was extra tight. However, here's a list of highlights and observations. -- Oscar Pascual

-- The panel for the upcoming X-Files sequel presented a teaser that was downright mysterious. But hey, that's why it's called a teaser. The new footage suggested nothing about the plot but featured Amanda Peet, Billy Connolly and...Xzibit? The cast wasn't concerned that the former Alkaholik turned Pimp My Ride host might tarnish the X-Files name. In fact, during the discussion Gillian Anderson revealed that they loved him.

Another major bombshell dropped when a fan posed the question of whether recurring characters such as the Cigarette Smoking Man or the murderous Alex Krycek would appear in the film. Apparently creator Chris Carter adopted a comic book cliche and hinted at the possibility.

"Nobody's ever really dead from The X-Files," said Carter.

(Click "More" for all notes of importance, or just downright awesomeness.)

Sometimes literature and music make a good combination. Reading about music is always fun and informative, but listening to music about literature? Whaaa? Folk singer Jim Post makes it possible this weekend with his performance of Mark Twain and the Laughing River at the Freight and Salvage Coffee House. Click "More" to learn about the whole shebang. -- ASD Staff Report

If you've read Transmetropolitan or The Boys, odds are you were thoroughly entertained as well as grossed out by some of the art. You can thank Darick Robertson for that personally next week when the Comic Outpost has him over as a guest. Get your issues signed or maybe even get a neat Spider Jerusalem sketch if you're lucky. -- ASD Staff Report

There's no historical monument that inspires a massive boner quite like the Mitchell Brothers' O'Farrell Theatre. Former dancer and Artie Mitchell's girlfriend, Simone Corday put together a memoir detailing all the lurid ribaldry-- 9 1/2 Years Behind the Green Door. You can get your very own copy this weekend at the bookparty:

Saturday, 1/19, 8 pm

SIMONE CORDAY BOOKPARTY: 9 1/2 Years Behind the Green Door -- A Mitchell Brothers memoir

The Center for Sex & Culture, 1519 Mission St

Simone Corday's just-released, compulsively readable memoir will be available -- and celebrated! -- at this fun book event. With refreshments, a reading, and a special Green Door experience.

Lake Superior State University's new, 2008 Banished Words List needs innumerable additions. In addition to some excerpts we present our own suggestions of overused words and cliches that need to die in 2008:

ORGANIC

Also, "Green"! Fuck green! Green means nothing! We issue a fatwah on green.

BLACK FRIDAY

Also, CYBER MONDAY, and NATIONAL HANGOVER DAY

RANDOM

Also, all words that end in the suffix "-izzle."

SWEET

Also, COOL, SUPERCOOL, KEWL And WOOT.

AND OUR #1 BANISHED WORD: HIPSTER.
Stop it. Just, stop it. Wanton use of this epithet for urbane, white, early 20s consumers of music, movies, film, and fashion has reached a new high, often by people who qualify as a hipster. Let's put it this way, if you know hip lingo like "hipster", you are a hipster.

How did we get here? My theory is: A primordial river of hate flows through us all, but here at the zenith of political correctness, old-school hating of poor people, black people, and immigrants can be socially hazardous. The only group that's fair game for primordial labeling, generalizations and carte blanche derision are those outside the PC safe zone — namely young, white, middle class kids.

Ergo, the rise of "hipster" hating.

Stop it. Use a different word. They're more than just hipsters. They are:
emo kids, vegpunks, scooter dweebs, sportos, motorheads, geeks, sluts, bloods, waistoids, dweebies, and dickheads. The list of subgroup epithets go on and one.

Branch out from hipster, people. Besides, who would you rather be stuck on an island with: a hipster with a great record collection or a jock douchebag who likes date rape? I'd want the guy with the Lou Reed records and hash, thank you. More banished words after the jump. — David Downs

For those of you who missed Comic Outpost's Halloween sale, or couldn't get a single volume of Doom Patrol or The Walking Dead because I bought them all, fear not. There is another. Sale, I mean. Check the flyer for the info.

--Oscar Pascual

Disregard all those pictures of Nikki Sixx on your milk carton. Somebody pulled him out of limbo so he could put out a book:

Nikki Sixx has written a book, The Heroin Diaries, which is a number 7 New York Times bestseller! The book is comprised of old journals that Sixx kept in 1986 and 1987 while struggling with his drug and alcohol addictions. It's an extraordinarily compelling story, and is actually the first ever book with a corresponding soundtrack.

Nikki's promotional book tour will be swinging through SAN FRANCISCO on October 28, 2007, at Barnes and Noble, 11 West Hillsdale Blvd Hillsdale Shopping Center starting at 2:00pm.

Where would drug awareness be without the help of washed-up rock stars?

Sure. You could spend your Halloween having fun out in the streets. You could also spend it reading a bunch of awesome discounted or free comics you got at Comic Outpost's Halloween Sale:

Save your teeth and feed your brain. We need to make it healthy enough to eat!!

In celebration of our favorite holiday (conveniently falling on a Wednesday) and our Expansion Grand Opening we are having a one day Halloween Sale and FREE COMIC GIVE AWAY. Yes we will have those treats as well that keep all those dentists on my block very rich.

Personally, I'll be catching up on Doom Patrol, The Invisibles, and Preacher trade paperbacks. Maybe some Transmetropolitan if I don't blow my wad. More on the sale after the jump.

Vice Magazine's photos are so raw, it's best that you listen to Ol' Dirty Bastard's first album while perusing them. From the horse's mouth:

For the last 13 years, Vice magazine has been known for showcasing a wide range of provocative, hilarious, and beautiful photography from the most exciting young photographers on this or any other planet. In fact, the photos they've published in Vice could fill a book - a big, luxurious coffee table book... Hey wait a minute! Bet you didn't see this coming, but yes, VICE Books is set to release The Vice Photo Book, a compilation of over a decade of photos from Vice Magazine, this December.

But December is, like, months from now. Until then, Vice's MySpace has some cool flicks.

The 50th anniversary of Jack Kerouac's On the Road has cast his famous book under new light, but the best essay I've read about both the novel and the pals who populated it is in the new issue of the New Yorker. Writer Louis Menand authors a piece that notes the complexities of the male bonding Kerouac evoked, both in his writing and in his everyday life. -- Jennifer Maerz