John Jeremiah Sullivan's essay collection Pulphead ranges across America, from Christian rock festivals to Axl Rose, from unheralded blues musicians to the WB show "One Tree Hill." (TIME's Lev Grossman calls Sullivan the next Tom Wolfe: "JJS, as I have come to think of him, may be the best essayist of his generation.") Sullivan's book tour is taking him across the United States, during which he's posting photos on Tumblr. A few highlights:

There's something about Etgar Keret's short stories that works especially well online. Perhaps it's their terseness, their easy vernacular, or their wry approach to the fundamental oddness of modern life. Also, magic goldfish. Gary Shteyngart—novelist, Twitterer, and illiteracy advocate—reads "What, of This Goldfish,...