In Me Own Words: The Autobiography of Bigfoot, words and pictures by graham roumieu

He eats a lot of people, gets himself in trouble. Living in the woods ain't all it's cracked up to be, he says. Squirrels play slide whistles all day. "Why they be trippin' on me?," he says. "Bigfoot gots to reprazent."

CivilWarLand: stories and a novella by George Saunders

Like his book Pastoralia, this is a collection of twisted stories, many set in failing, fantastical theme parks. These stories feature a boneless girl, a raccoon disposal company, and a bevy of ghosts. Death and job insecurity run throughout--and left me wondering which is worse.

Also see the author's brillant apparently off-the-cuff comments in an interview in the March 2004 Believer (not online). Also good are a New Yorker interview and The Atlantic (who used to have their interview online for free and then took it off, so I linked to the Google cache).

comics

Clumsy: A Novel by Jeffrey Brown

Usually I only read comics when I like the drawings as well as the story. Brown's drawings suck, but I loved it anyway. This graphic novel is all about the amazing joy that can come with a new relationship--and the awkwardness and misunderstanding. Half the time the characters are having sex. Chris Ware, James Kolchalka, and Ira Glass all claim on his book covers to love his work.

Peanut Butter and Jeremy's Best Book Ever by James Kolchalka

Yet another hilarious book by one of the most prolific alternative comic artist-storytellers. Here's an interview he did with The Onion. I tried to find somewhere other to put up a link where you can buy the book online, but even the publisher sells it through Amazon rather than direct. I got mine at Giant Robot, a store for overgrown children in the Haight.