1 Royal’ ripoff
The author may have named her baby after the Magnolia bakery, but there’s good buzz on Galt Neiderhoffer’s debut novel, “A Taxonomy of Barnacles” – a “Royal Tenenbaums”-ish story about five New York prodigies with a wacky father. (Perhaps Alec Baldwin can do the book on tape.)
2 Discount designs
Bid low on such high-fashion pieces as the Dolce & Gabbana dress Jennifer Lopez wore to last month’s 7th on Sale benefit (pictured) – as well as a Jessica Simpson castoff and other donated dresses – through Wednesday on eBay. Finally, a way to quantify celebrity cultural currency with actual math.
3 Master class
Bolstered by fresh anecdotes and insights from friends and fans, “What Would Jackie Do?” is an entertaining trifle of a self-help book that reinterprets the late Jackie O.’s life as a guide for modern living.
4 The Pitts
The movie that launched a thousand tabloid covers – Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie’s enjoyably flawed “Mr. & Mrs. Smith” – hits DVD shelves on Tuesday.
5 Style snobs
Fashion designer and pop-culture obsessive Isaac Mizrahi takes another crack at hosting a talk show (which we hope goes easy on the sycophantic interviews; he’s better when bitchy) tomorrow at 7 p.m. on the Style channel.
6 Tiny trees
Compound the feeling of urban holiday disenfranchisement (tiny studio space/walk-up/low ceilings = no real tree) with this pathetically sweet Charlie Brown Christmas tree, now on sale at Urban Outfitters.
7 Hipster ennui
With online debates raging as to just how uninspired their new record is – right after a sparsely attended listening party two weeks ago – ambivalence about New York’s Strokes, former arbiters of cool, is all the (tepid) rage.
8 Fear & loathing
If he hadn’t been cremated and shot out of a cannon, he’d be spinning in his grave: Check out the Gonzo Room at the new Flatiron bar Aspen, a boozy theme-park space devoted to Hunter S. Thompson, replete with frosted-glass deer heads mounted on the wall.
9 Retro rock
The documentarians behind such classics as “Gimme Shelter” and “What’s Happening! The Beatles in the USA” are the subjects of the monthlong retrospective “Maysles Brothers: Five Decades” at the Museum of Modern Art.
10 Shock stars
We often get the feeling that all modern artists under age 45 are pulling a fast one – what with all the mutilated cows, unmade beds and urinals as sculpture. Nonetheless, controversial Brit art star Tracey Emin’s new installation, “I Can Feel Your Smile,” is stark and haunting; through Dec. 17 at the Lehmann Maupin Gallery.
