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Ask Click and Clack

Answers from Car Talk

For more than two decades, the Tappet brothers, a.k.a. Click and Clack, have been answering automotive questions in their highly successful Car Talk column syndicated in over 400 newspapers around the country. Collected here for the first time are 100 of the best questions—and, more important—their answers, with a smattering of wisecracks, sidesplitting anecdotes, and genuinely useful advice.

See our full product line at chroniclebooks.com/cartalk and watch the animated antics of Click and Clack in their new TV series at pbs.org/wrenchturns. And head over to cartalk.com where you'll find Car Talk's Literary Critic Al Ligori's Q&A with the Tappet Brothers, and his interview with the book's editor in which she admits that publishing it might cost her her job!

More Pop Culture Titles

Fate! Luck! Chance!

The world premiere of The Bonesetter's Daughter, Amy Tan's best-selling novel-turned-pioneering opera, debuted this month in San Francisco! In this one-of-a-kind book, Amy Tan and composer Stewart Wallace describe an incredible journey that took them to China, where local village traditions, as well as singers, musicians, and designers became an integral part of the creative process. Fate! Luck! Chance! includes the complete libretto for the opera, written by Tan.

Visit the San Francisco Opera's Web site to purchase tickets and learn more about this sensational event, and read more about it on the Chronicle Books Blog!

The Punch

David believes that, at heart, people are inherently rotten. Scott, his brother, believes that his life is going to fall apart, and that everyone he loves will leave him. Doris, their mother, believes that she has nothing to lose by revealing a 60-year-old family secret. This hysterically biting and ultimately redeeming novel by Noah Hawley proves them all right—and wrong—while answering some of life's biggest questions.

See photos from the book launch at the Chateau Marmont in Los Angeles and read more about The Punch on the Chronicle Books Blog.

Art of Modern Rock Mini #2
Poster Girls

There's no more popular subject for the modern rock poster than the ubiquitous poster girl. In this second pint-sized spin-off of the mammoth Art of Modern Rock, poster expert Dennis King rounds up the hottest chicks of the genre, be they rock-and-roll vixens, indie beauties, alien seductresses, or punk rock babes. With classic art from the original volume plus loads of new material—all focused on the strong and sexy female icons of the poster world—rock fans, art and design aficionados, poster collectors, and new enthusiasts will be hard-pressed to resist these dangerous curves.

Books Are My Bag

New! The Chronicle Books tote bag is inexpensive, reusable, and constructed out of completely recyclable polypropylene. Featuring the artwork of indie poster designer Jason Munn, this oversized tote folds down flat and snaps shut, making it a handy, compact accessory for any shopping trip. Seen any of our totes about town? Tell us where! Plus, if there are other Chronicle artists you'd like to see featured on future tote bags, leave us a comment here.