The new One Ring Zero album, As Smart As We Are, features lyrics from Margaret Atwood, A.M. Homes, Denis Johnson and Dave Eggers.

It’s bad enough that the BBC has reported that a compromise bill has been reached in the UK, which will allow parents to “smack their children with moderation.” But apparently Salman Rushdie is one of the people hoping for a total ban on smacking. Rushdie wants to “give children the personal freedom not to be hit.” Rushdie doesn’t seem to have any ideas, however, on how to enforce it.

Local author Michelle Richmond has an excerpt from her new book, Ocean Beach, in the Chronicle.

The Washington Post reports that John Dullaghan has not only tried to live a life similar to Bukowski’s, but managed to create a documentary out of his efforts. The film, entitled To All My Friends, is eight years in the making and about nine thousand tons of cheap red wine in the drinking. Dullaghan, however, didn’t go nearly as far as Barbet Schroeder, who (according to the DVD commentary to Barfly), threatened to cut his hand off if he was not able to make the film.

Melville House has produced several novellas with spicy colors and nifty typography. Do check ’em out. (And, yes, we were bribed. But that had nothing whatsoever to do with the current plug.)