Required reading from the week in books and comics.

"The Men Who Would Be King" chronicles the clashing egos that went into the creation of DreamWorks, the home that "Shrek" keeps upright. When Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen got together to form a movie company, the moguls were bound to clash. Entertainment writer Nicole LaPorte's book is full of gossip -- Russell Crowe was reportedly a nightmare on "Gladiator" -- yet is an interesting portrait of a Hollywood titan.

Also in stores:
-- Neil Gaiman ("The Graveyard Book") re-teams with "Stardust" artist Charles Vess for "Instructions," a guidebook to a fantastical land.
-- "Billy Batson and the Magic of Shazam" collects the first six issues of the hit series, which is that rare comic-for-kids that isn't mind-numbingly insulting to anyone with half a brain cell.
-- "Dead in the Family: A Sookie Stackhouse Novel" is the latest book in the southern-fried vampire franchise that inspired "True Blood." Just picture the narration being spoken in a thick Louisiana accent by a topless Anna Paquin and you pretty much have the TV show.