December 11–18, 1997 book quarterly Commodify Your Dissent: Salvos from the Baffler essays Commodify Your Dissent: Salvos from The Baffler Thomas Frank and Matt Weiland, editors, W.W. Norton, 288 p., $15 As co-founder, editor-in-chief and primary contributor of The Baffler,…

December 11–18, 1997 book quarterly Amy Hempel Gordon Lish. While Hempel’s slim volume is lyrical and meditational, the Lish collection is raw, gaudy and, at times, gut-bustingly funny. Deee-Lish The mentor’s still got it. His protégé has matured. by Julia…

December 11–18, 1997 food It is clearly appropriate to treat wraps with nervousness and suspicion, because they are a trend sweeping the nation with the force of a really big blowtorch. Planet Wrap’s cosmic decor, by artist Mark Brodzik. Photo…

December 4–11, 1997 cover story Lobby card and poster from Robots and Space Toys Web page Absolutely No Time Gifts that are just a phone call away. by Neil Gladstone It’s ten to 9 on Dec. 22 and you realize…

December 4–11, 1997 critic pick art The Squeeze Chair Project The meat industry has come a long way since the days of Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle. Many slaughterhouses are “humanely” designed, nearly half in the United States and Canada by…

December 4–11, 1997 city beat Meade and Barton, aka Andy Waskie and Carol Neumann Photo by Julia Lehman “Within two blocks of Independence National Historical Park there are any number of supernatural sites and locals,” says Andy Waskie, a Civil…

November 27–December 4, 1997 critic pick|hip-hop   Puff Daddy/Mase Sean “Puff Daddy” Combs may be best known as the mogul behind the incredibly successful BadBoy label and the producer of a million and one hits, but his rapping revolves around…

November 27–December 4, 1997 food The pumpkin pound cake with dried cranberries, cinnamon whipped cream and caramel sauce was so good I nearly threw my back out. Co-owners Ellen Yin and Roberto Sella outside Fork. Photo by Julia Lehman  …

November 20–27, 1997 disc quicks|comedy Carl Reiner and Mel Brooks The 2000 Year Old Man in the Year 2000 (Rhino) The latest in a recent series of new recordings by long-dormant comedy performers (Stan Freberg, The Firesign Theater, Tom Lehrer,…