Perhaps you’re familiar with the Saturday Night Live character Debbie Downer, as portrayed by Rachel Dratch? Throughout a series of sketches, Downer’s kitsch was to find at the negative side of any given situation, often relating seemingly innocuous items to the rise of Feline AIDS, etc., all accompanied with the “wah-wah” moan of a trombone. Downer has a less funny, literary equivalent in Judd Foxman, the wet blanket protagonist of This is Where I Leave You from author Jonathan Tropper. more ›

It's the hot Astanga instructor at Yoga Yoga South, or the girl in the cutoffs at El Chilito. It's the smoking UPS guy or your favorite Lone Star Rollergirl. It's your local secret crush. Our column returns with an interview with one of Austin's local gallery owners and artists: E. Moises Diaz of Urban Roots Gallery. We received a request to interview him by a married lady (gasp!) who wrote not just on her behalf,... more ›

Senator John McCain will make a quick stop at BookPeople this Sunday to sign copies of his new book, Character Is Destiny. The new book from the Arizona Republican is a collection of short biographies of figures ranging Empress Theodora of Byzantium to Pat Tillman, each embodying a character trait that McCain believes is essential to success. The hour-and-a-half signing begins at noon, but you have to get there at 9 a.m. to pick... more ›