After the Workshop: A Novel By John McNally, out now

A former Iowa MFA grad suffering from writer’s block and working as a media escort for successful writers must face the accomplishments of others and his own failures in this skewering of the writing life.

To Sound in the Know: McNally himself worked as a media escort and went to Iowa for his MFA.What’s up now, bitches?

Lucha Loco By Malcolm Venille, out now

A collection of portraits of luchadors, those tiny Mexican wrestlers in elaborate and fabulous costumes who fight in the Lucha Libre style.

To Sound in the Know: Nacho Libre, Jack Black’s opus on Lucha Libre, was based on a true story of a priest turned luchador.

Rock and Hard Places By Andrew Mueller, out now

The new edition of the rock classic is a collection from seven years of following bands like U2 and Def Leppard as they travel to strange locations all over the world.

To Sound in the Know: In his journalism career, Mueller has interviewed stone cold foxes from Benazir Bhutto to Helena Christensen.

The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine By Michael Lewis, out now

The author of Liar’s Poker and The Blind Side explores how 2008 Wall Street exploded/imploded/ kaboom-ploded. To Sound in the Know: Lewis published a heavily emailed, early postmortem on Wall Street in Portfolio in Nov. 2008.

The Changeling By Kenzaburo Oe, out now

A 60-year-old author receives a set of cassette tapes containing monologues from a longtime friend and movie director that culminates in the friend’s suicide. Existential wandering ensues. To Sound in the Know: Oe drew inspiration from the actions of his brother-in-law, a famous director named Juzo Itami, who committed suicide in 1997.

Look at This F*cking Hipster By Joe Mande, out Mar. 30

A collection of photos from the website that skewers hipsters from Williamsburg, Silver Lake and any skinny-jean haven in between.The asterisk is his, not ours. Fuck fuck fuck. To Sound in the Know: Mande started the website to explain to his dad what a hipster was.

Solar By Ian McEwan, out Mar. 30

A Nobel-prize winning physicist sells out and then tries to win back his wife and reputation through a solar energy initiative in this new novel from Booker Prize-magnet McEwan. To Sound in the Know:

In a departure for emo McEwan, this novel is billed as a comedy.