The President discusses his highbrow reading with NBC.  Not only did he read Camus in Crawford, but he also polished off “three Shakespeare’s”.  Lest you think W is getting all “East Coast elite” on ya, he mispronounces “eclectic” to reassure the base.

Download a coupla three or four Shakespeares, some Huckleberry Finn, some Thomas Jeffersons, and other public domain works for free at Google Books (click the “Full View Books” to get the full text).

Jonathan Franzen is a craphead.  A huge, huge craphead.

Nick Hornby has new book out, Housekeeping vs. The Dirt, which is the second collection of his monthly Believer column, Stuff I’ve Been Reading. Here’s an excerpt where he ponders the point of reading books:

What would happen if I read no books ever? Let’s imagine someone who reads no books ever but polishes off every word of the New Yorker, the Economist, and their broadsheet newspaper of choice: well, this imaginary person would do more reading than me, because that’s got to be a couple of hundred thousand words a week, and would also be a lot smarter than me, if you use that rather limited definition of smart which involves knowing stuff about stuff.

Speaking of the Believer, this month’s issue includes a review of Gautam Malkani’s Londonstani .

In other McSweeney’s world news, Dave Eggers appreciated The Known World way more than I did.

NPR has some nice New Orleans tunes to listen to while digesting the Katrina Year.

Finally, combine Katrina and digestion by checking out last weekend’s Wall Street Journal article, Comforting Food: Recapturing Recipes Katrina Took Away.  The Ruby Slippers Cookbook, which we’ve salivated over, is highlighted.  Sadly, the article is locked safely behind the Journal’s impenetrable wall that keeps the likes of us out.  If you have a subscription, check it out.