Literary Lives An interview with artist Edward Sorel and a gallery of images (featuring the story of Tolstoy’s odd life) from his new book of illustrated—and unflattering—biographies of canonized authors.

The Non-Expert: People Watcher Experts answer what they know. The Non-Expert answers anything. This week Claire Miccio helps a college student out of her end-of-school doledrums by suggesting a hobby both interesting and adventurous, but that sometimes skirts the wrong side of the law.

Local Not-Spots You have to exit the highway to see the sights. Sometimes you have to venture down even less-traveled roads to find the real stories. Oliver Griswold tells the tales of Yachats, Oregon, and Woody Creek, Colorado.

The First Rule of Book Club Chicago versus New York: sure, we know whose pizza is better, but what about their city-wide book reading programs? Kevin Guilfoile sits us down and gives us a stern lecture about our relative civic hopes, fears, and lazy habits.