Required reading from the week in books and comic books.

James Greer's "The Failure" employs a fractured, "Pulp Fiction"–style narrative to tell the tale of a 20-something Los Angeles couple that gets caught up in robbery, double crosses and harebrained, get-rich-quick Internet schemes. Steven Soderbergh is such a fan, he hired Greer to pen the screenplay to his next film. (Yep, the same guy who made Sasha Grey a movie star digs this novel. Soderbergh's got an eye for talent, is what we're saying.)

Also in stores:
-- Author A.E. Hotchner explores his long relationship with the coolest actor of all time in "Paul & Me: Fifty-Three Years of Adventures and Misadventures with My Pal Paul Newman." Finally we'll find out how Paul got his salad dressing to taste so darn good.
-- Want to appear cultured and book smart to women? Own any Ian McEwan ("Atonement") novel. His latest, "Solar," will do nicely. This one's a black comedy about a womanizing nuclear physicist, or maybe it's about a team of scientists trying to destroy the sun. Honestly, it doesn't matter. Your bookshelf + McEwan = you appearing to be an intellectual.
-- The graphic novel "Mysterius: The Unfathomable" collects Jeff Parker and Mad magazine artist Tom Fowler's hit miniseries about a seriously unpleasant magician and his plucky assistant. Basically, Mysterius is Harry Potter 20 years and two divorces from now.