Lots of Thanks—Undo that buckle, unzip those pants, lean back on the couch and just wait it out. Don't even think about getting up and walking around. What? Are you crazy? You could hurt yourself! Your intestines are about to burst wide open. Now isn't the time for any sudden movements. Just sit back and work through the pain, eventually all that excess food will dissipate into either your digestive system or the municipal sewage system. Shouldn't take longer than 24 hours or so.

My experience with skateboarding is extremely limited. When I was eight or nine years old, I inherited a decrepit, extra-skinny fiberglass board from some older kid on the block. I rode it around the neighborhood for about a month until the back wheels fell off. I don't think I ever rode another skateboard again.

Ireland could begin producing a torrent of world-class chemists, shot putters, pet doctors or dentists, but it will be a long while before it escapes its reputation as the place where people can do three things better than anywhere else in the world: sing, drink and spout poetry.

This eerie debut volume should become the talk of the town among morticians. Drawing inspiration from the anatomy artists of the 16th century, Nadine Sabra Meyer wanders from dermis to duodenum, meditating on our "soul's chrysalis." If the Romantics were squeamish, Meyer is just the opposite, peering into the thoracic cavity with unflinching curiosity.