“Everywhere an Oink Oink: An Embittered, Dyspeptic and Accurate Report of Forty Years in Hollywood” is a collection of observations, stories and aphorisms about Hollywood from David Mamet, one of America’s foremost writers and, these days, provocateurs.

This is a book that resembles the idled rantings from a feverish, unsolicited email in your spam folder. There are weird capitalizations, uneasy conclusions and the rat-a-tat of non-sequiturs all held together by bad faith. It’s illustrated by Mamet’s cartoons, which echo a middle schooler’s sense of humor and maturity.

He clearly hates film producers, but he hates PC culture more. He lambasts “Diversity Porn,” arguing that the logical extension of color-conscious casting is an Asian woman playing Harry Truman.

Mamet, who once won the Pulitzer Prize, is the acclaimed author of theater classics such as “Glengarry Glen Ross,” “American Buffalo” and “Race,” all works struggling to find relevance in the modern age. His Hollywood input includes scripts for “The Untouchables,” “Heist,” “Wag the Dog” and “The Edge,” glorious all.

Sections in the book unusually begin with a tart statement, like “Trivia is gossip without malice” or “People flourish in hierarchy,” and then meander to some backstage trivia about Hollywood’s Golden Age before ending with something outrageous and unconnected, often with Nazis.

To be fair, there are intriguing parts, like when he discusses the nuts and bolts of screenwriting. And run-ins with Billy Wilder, Don Ameche, Sue Mengers and Bob Evans are fun. But “Everywhere an Oink Oink” is a vanity project: He loves re-settling scores, boasts about being fired from jobs or thrown out of places.

All over, Mamet repeats himself, another gripe for a book that feels unedited. One may loathe his individual conclusions, but to get them twice makes the author even smaller, petty and unhinged. — Mark Kennedy, Associated Press

Zahra Hankir opens “Eyeliner: A Cultural History” by marveling over her mother’s elegant beauty process as she delicately sweeps black kohl on her waterline, dreaming of displaying that same confidence one day.

For Hankir, eyeliner is more than just a cosmetic product. It provides protection and empowerment. It provides cultural connection. It exists beyond borders, gender roles and Western beauty standards. Lining one’s waterline or drawing a delicate black line across an eyelid is more than aesthetics. For many of the underrepresented groups and communities of color highlighted in Hankir’s book, applying the product is a ritual deeply rooted in spirituality, culture, identity and more.

The Lebanese-British journalist seamlessly takes her readers on a global investigation of how the cosmetic product is used worldwide. Through intimate narratives with varied characters from different cultures and communities, we learn more about the product’s rise in prominence while having a fly-on-the-wall inside look at the ways it serves medicinal purposes, fuels spiritual practices, uplifts self-expression and how its mere existence on someone’s eyelid can be viewed as a form of defiance.

Hankir begins this thoroughly researched journey by educating her readers on Egypt’s Queen Nefertiti and her rise as a symbol of “ideal feminine beauty.” The book packs enough information for readers to walk away with more in-depth knowledge of the staple product sitting idly inside their makeup bag.

“Eyeliner” comes full circle, highlighting today’s beauty influencers and allowing viewers to see the ripple effects of popularity and cultural exchange as this one beauty product carries the constant line of simultaneously emphasizing the beauty and power each person possesses as they line their eyes and prepare to embark on their personal journeys. — Leslie Ambriz, Associated Press