books

With its back-to-home theme -- a "grassroots 215," says festival managing director Celeste DiNucci -- this year's bibliophile's dream cobbles together more local byproducts than Habbersett's scrapple. Look, I'm pleased as punch that New York Times mag humor editor John Hodgman's going to read from his almanac-like debut, The Areas of My Expertise. And for bliss-out-glibness, Manhattan monologuist Mike Albo'll thrill opening-night attendees with his sweet and dastardly The Underminer: The Best Friend Who Casually Destroys Your Life. But I'm way excited by the Philly folk, many of whom will assemble on this, the first eve of 215 for a reunion of the staff of the (for-now) defunct Philadelphia Independent. For most, PI, its boss Matt Schwartz and its crew of columnists represented Philly-lit-crit-and-reportage at its sharpest and freest, like Albert Ayler pumping a Smith Corona. Is it missed? Yes. Will Schwartz bring it back to life? "There's no immediate plans to start up again but I'd love to sit down with whomever and talk about it and see if it goes anywhere," says Schwartz. "I did get a lot of postcards from readers who want us to come back. If we do, I want it to be in a permanent and sustainable way, as a business. That will take planning and funding and I haven't done much so far on either of those fronts."

Schwartz's laissez-faire attitude toward an Independent redux won't stop him, Maureen Tkacik and Allen Crawford, aka the divinely foppish Lord Breaulove Swells Whimsy. (Word has it that Johnny Depp just bought the film rights to Whimsy's ornately scribed observations on men, myth and grooming, The Affected Provincial's Almanack.) And open-faced essayist Erik Bader's getting ready to drop the first of a projected five volumes of stories taking place in a fictional Milton. True Jersey, Volume One is set to include contributions by local designers, map makers and illustrators Alexander Zahradnik, Beto Alvarez and Jesse M.; the appearance of a cat and a possum; and a five-act-play of Bader's own devising, Men. "It's a sort of city-state governed by both Pennsylvania and New Jersey but allowed to make its own final decisions -- kind of any college/suburb/rural/post-industrial town USA," says Bader of his imaginary burg. "Think Winesburg, Ohio but with an Internet." For all its whistles and bells and cleverness, Bader promises something hard, a cynical work reminiscent of the Independent at its strongest and the 215 Festival at its best.

215 Festival Opening Night, Wed., Oct. 5; Kickoff Event: Philadelphia Independent Reunion including Maureen Tkacik, Matt Schwartz, Lord Whimsy and Erik Bader, 5 p.m., free, Kelly Writers House, 3805 Locust Walk; An Evening with Mike Albo, 8 p.m., $5-$7, International House, 3701 Chestnut St.; Polymorphous Perverse: The 215 After Hours, 10 p.m., free, Valanni Restaurant & Lounge, 1229 Spruce St. Visit www.215festival.com for more information.