The Boys Book Club is Back / Foodie Pick of the Fall / Cowboy Indian Bear: Tomorrow

Readers, we don't have much time today, because we're busy zombie-ing ourselves up for tonight's Fourth Annual Lawrence Zombie Walk. But let's think about books for a bit.

Now that we've finished the new Franzen (genius!) and beat off our way through the Duke "Fuck List" (arousing!), we're turning to the ever-hip publishers McSweeney's, for a 900 page epic debut novel called The Instructions, by Adam Levin, which spans only four days and centers around "ten-year-old Gurion Maccabee who may, in fact, be the messiah." (www.mcsweeneys.net)

And here's an assessment of Levin from the McSweeney's website: "Combining the crackling voice of Philip Roth with the encyclopedic mind of David Foster Wallace, Adam Levin has shaped a world driven equally by moral fervor and slapstick comedy—a novel that is muscular and rollicking, troubling and empathetic, monumental, breakneck, romantic, and unforgettable."

Richard: "I desperately want to be seen reading this book on various patios around town, but the fucking thing is so huge I may need to push it around in a wheelbarrow. Does that make it even more hip?"

---

Since today's Style Scout subjects don't particularly intrigue us with their fashion senses, let's think instead about today's Lawrence.com piece on how local chefs are "tweaking" their menus for fall. Our favorite foodie heavens, The Burger Stand and Esquina, aren't included, but we think it's safe to assume that Krause will be offering some sort of pumpkin burgers and tacos at his respective establishments (perhaps a slab of Kobe beef nestled between two whole pumpkins!).

But our other favorite local foodie paradise IS included in the article: The Basil Leaf Cafe on 6th Street. The Basil Leaf is ultra-hip because it's located in a gas station, and all good restaurants located inside gas stations are important (Oklahoma Joe's, for example). Chef Walters says he's going to be featuring an appetizer of "frog legs with a cayenne cream sauce and jalapeno apple jelly onto the appetizer menu." Richard, who was a champion frog gigger back in Arkansas, is especially excited about this one.

Our vegetarian friends: "There just seems something especially cruel about frog legs. We're not sure why."

Chip: "Shut up and go down to the 10th Street Vegetarian Bistro. They've got fried eggplant fingers on their appetizer menu."

---

And don't forget that our Twitter-friends in Cowboy Indian Bear are rocking at the Bottleneck tomorrow. It's our understanding that, with Halloween approaching, the band might buy a shot for you if you come dressed as a cowboy, an Indian, or a bear, but that might just be a rumor we heard.

Chip: "I'm dressing as Gentle Ben."

According to their Myspace (www.myspace.com/cowboyindianbear) the show will be followed by a dance party featuring South Sea Island Magic, which sounds pretty cool in its own right, and perhaps especially if you are dressed as a dancing bear.

And here's a picture of the band with new member Katlyn Conroy: