Alfred Jarry is not only the creator of Ubu, that rude grand voyou with his gidouille and his phynancial horse. He's also the brilliant writer of "Gestes et opinions du Docteur Faustroll, pataphysicien" which led to the foundation of the College of 'Pataphysics -- the science of imaginary solutions, extending as far beyond metaphysics as the latter extends beyond physics. And when it comes to 'Pataphysics, the OuLiPo ('Ouvroir de Littérature Potentielle', opener of potential literature) and other Ou-X-Po's are bound to be hanging around...

A rabbit in search of blue Patagonian carrots, a lemur exploring the end of the world looking for God, a big-teethed fly with a hearty appetite, a toad meditating on its stone... Lewis Trondheim's characters live in a universe that blends schoolkids'jokes with daily uneasiness. Knowing that, it can't be really amazing to discover that this drawer is also one of the founders of the Ouvroir de Bande dessinée Potentielle (OuBaPo, "opener of potential comics").

Perfect to engender a passion for music, Les Inrocks used to be published every other month. It made a difference thanks to its extensive interviews, its polished reviews filled with references, its outstanding black & white portraits, its pages about cinema, literature and cartoons, its sober design and its touch of asserted pretentiousness. Now, they've become a weekly with a website and colour pictures...

By dint of spending endless rainy days listening to the Smiths in the schoolyard, you naturally wind up immersing yourself in the complete works of Oscar Wilde... and in his irreverent humour, his eccentric dandyism, his delightful witticisms -- while having a cup of darjeeling and a plateful of cucumber sandwiches, obviously.

One of the most fascinating and impressive aspects of Stefan Zweig is how easily the reader enters his various novels and short stories. And yet, at first sight, this Austrian writer's universe is anything but obvious, as he describes in depth the confused feelings of people striving against their own demons and their unsatisfied dreams.

The son of Italian immigrants, John Fante was brought up the hard way by his father, a pigheaded bricklayer, an inveterate skirt chaser who'd drink like a fish and get irascible. His books, that inspired Charles Bukowski, relate his childhood, his early years as a penniless writer and his life as well-known writer. They're a delightful digest of black humour, bitterness, shattered hopes, days spent writing short stories in lousy hotels, tenderness, and nights in bars.

Totally musically incorrect, Nick Tosches relates his own story of country music. This is a book filled to the gills with group names, references, anecdotes, dates, and biases, even turning an occasional blind eye to certain aspects of the history of a music style with popular roots yet born well before its Nashvillian sequined substitute. Tosches provides enough material here to tear down a number of well-established ideas and dive deep into the maze of an edgy and sickly music.

In 1952, Harry Smith, an artist, ethnologist, polyglot... and a mad collector of music recordings, but also of Ukrainian Easter Eggs and paper airplanes, compiled for Folkways Records these 84 tracks recorded between 1927 and 1932. This three-volume anthology, genuine memory of the American popular music, influenced the folk songwriters of the '60s to a great extent, Bob Dylan leading the way, and it still haunts today's artists (Will Oldham, 16 Horsepower, WGC, Kristin Hersh...). A fourth volume, containing 28 more songs recorded from 1928 to 1940, has just come out on Revenant Records.

The first time we held a copy of "Comes with a Smile", it was a shock and a great surprise: we felt we were discovering our dream music magazine, not only due to the bands it deals with (many bands we've valued for a long time) but also because of its aspect (a sober design, which emphasizes the texts and the pictures, not to mention the superb thick paper). What's more, each issue comes with an impeccable cd compilation crammed with previously unreleased songs! By a fortunate coincidence, we got in touch with Matt Dornan, the man behind CWAS, and now we run the website of the magazine.