Everything you always didn’t want to know

From History of Intellectual Culture, Carl Spadoni (McMaster): How to Make a Souffle; or, What Historians of the Book Need to Know about Bibliography. A review of The Drunkard's Walk: How Randomness Rules Our Lives by Leonard Mlodinow. A review of Everyday Drinking: The Distilled Kingsley Amis (and more at Bookforum). A review of Amis & Son: Two Literary Generations by Neil Powell (and more). One of the most reassuring things about Obama is that Austan Goolsbee has been with him since his Senate campaign in 2004. The End of Summer Vacation: A workplace crisis that Obama and McCain could actually fix. Everything you always didn't want to know about porn: A review of Chuck Palahniuk's Snuff (and more). The Britney Spears Problem: Tracking who's hot and who's not presents an algorithmic challenge. It must be galling to live next door to the world's best schools, so it goes for Sweden, which must gaze at Finland's classrooms forlornly. More on Fareed Zakaria's The Post-American World (and an interview and more). Imagine a nuclear fuel that produces 70% less toxic waste and nothing a rogue state can use to make a bomb — but is it too good to be true? A review of Howard Zinn: A Radical American Vision by Davis E. Joyce. Are bloggers journalists? Let’s ask Thomas Jefferson. Ben e-mails, George does business?