April 7-13, 2005

artpicks

Squeeze Play

Books

Crime novelist Victor Gischler of Skiatook, Okla., will be making a rare Philly-area appearance Tuesday. Why here? "Since I wanted to take the train down the right side of the country, I figured it was a good stop," explains Gischler. "I could see the bell and cross Philly off my places-I've-never-been list." All the more reason to catch Gischler as he reads from his latest, Suicide Squeeze (Delacorte). Gischler's gaining a reputation as one of crime fiction's sharpest satirists, helped by his freewheeling "World's Worst Blog" (www.victorgischler.com) in which he muses on the merits of lasagna and showers, and interviews other mystery writers (Jason Starr, George Pelecanos) with zingers like, "What's the most expensive thing you've broken by accident?" So you get a sense of what to expect in Squeeze, which follows comic-book geek Teddy Folger and his scam involving a baseball card signed by Joe DiMaggio, Marilyn Monroe and Billy Wilder. Much chaos involving repo men and ninjas ensues. Says Gischler: "I like people to laugh at what I've written and then think, "Oh, I shouldn't laugh at that. That's terrible.'"

Victor Gischler, Tue., April 12, 7:30 p.m., Chester County Book & Music Company, 975 Paoli Pike, West Chester, 610-696-1661.

—Duane Swierczynski