Culture Surfing - Greg Johnson

Atlanta author and Kennesaw State University English professor Greg Johnson has published his 11th book, the collection Women I’ve Known: New and Selected Short Stories (Ontario Review Press), which features 24 tales frequently involving Southern women. Johnson will be reading from and signing copies of Women I’ve Known at Outwrite Books Wednesday, June 6, at 8 p.m.

Waitress: “Don’t miss this ‘small’ film starring Keri Russell as a pregnant, working-class woman struggling with a smothering husband and a new love. Screenwriter and director Adrienne Shelly (who, tragically, was murdered in NYC shortly after the film was completed) gets all the Southern nuances just right.”

Maroon 5’s new album, It Won’t Be Soon Before Long: “Listeners get to decide for themselves what the hell that title means, but the group’s sophomore effort is a worthy follow-up to Songs About Jane with Adam Levine’s typically fine vocals leading the way.”

God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything: “In this brilliant, full-fledged attack on organized religion, the subtitle says it all, and Christopher Hitchens’ trademark wit and scabrous verbal skills are on full display. Nonbelievers, rejoice!”

The Painted Veil on DVD: “Starring Edward Norton and Naomi Watts, this story of a turbulent but ultimately triumphant marriage takes place against the backdrop of typhoid-plagued China in the 1930s. Based on a novel by W. Somerset Maugham, the film is beautifully shot and the acting is superb.”

“House”: “This remains the best-written and one of the best-acted shows on television. Hugh Laurie is superb as the brilliant, Vicodin-addicted diagnostician, and though the story lines follow a predictable formula, there are enough surprises along the way to keep viewers hooked as well.”