BOOK TIP

Penpal

Dathan Auerbach

Given the narrowing and formulaic tendencies of the books business, a lot of readers scour various internet sites and established indie press outfits because there’s a LOT of great stuff out there that’ll never land with the Big Five publishers. That’s how I found “Penpal” — which was published by 1000 Vultures Press 11 years ago. The big question is: How did a Big Fiver NOT land this startling, unsettling, distinctive masterpiece? “Penpal” consists of autobiographical chapters from the narrator, jumping back and forth in chronology, as he tries to make sense of a series of eerie childhood events and memories that feed into a larger and ghastly spiderweb of a plot. Each section reveals more clues about why certain things happened to the young man, his mom and his best friend Josh. The tension grows steadily and in wonderfully irritating fashion because you just can’t figure it out — and the conclusion will snap your brainstem. Hey: Auerbach? It’s not your fault this wasn’t a massive bestseller.

— Rick Koster

MOVIE TIP

Maestro

Bradley Cooper is getting most of the press when it comes to “Maestro.” He is, after all, its star, director and co-writer, and his physical and emotional transformation into famed conductor/composter Leonard Bernstein is pretty remarkable. But the heart and soul of “Maestro” is Carey Mulligan, as Bernstein’s wife, actress Felicia Montealegre. Mulligan is soulful in every one of the character’s incarnations — from her young and enamored first years with Lenny, through her agonizing death from lung cancer at age 56. The relationship between Bernstein and Montealegre was complex. At least based on the film, she accepted him for who he was — including his romances with men and his levels of egotism. “Maestro” is far from a traditional biopic. It surfs through moments in Bernstein’s life on the waves of his music. It will sweep viewers along, too.

– Kristina Dorsey

MOVIE TIP

Christmas As Usual

Netflix original content reaches all the way to Norway for this awkward but partially charming holiday story. Ida Ursin-Holm stars as Thea, an LA-based young woman returning home to Norway for Christmas. She’s bringing a surprise guest, her Indian fiancé Jashan (Kanan Gill), and, well, Thea maybe should have alerted her mother, still grieving over the death of her husband, that she’s bringing a guest — from a very different society. Mom, y’see, is doubly committed to having the old-fashioned Norwegian Christmas her husband always insisted on, and the unexpected fiancé — particularly one from, ah, India — makes for some uncomfortable situations. Most of the genuinely funny moments are still fairly predictable cross-cultural bits — and those that aren’t amusing are sorta painful. Still, the Scandinavian visuals are lovely, the leads have genuine chemistry, and I personally learned that NO ONE should have to eat chunks of fat for Christmas dinner.

— Rick Koster