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Spirit’s monthly roundup of what’s new in books, television, movies, and the Web.

TELEVISION

Leverage
 Nate Ford (Timothy Hutton) was a good guy, until his employer, an insurance company, refused to cover the health claims for his sick son. In Leverage, TNT’s new action/drama (premiering Dec. 7) Nate gets his revenge by stealing from the not-so-needy and giving to the needy, all in an effort to gain “leverage” over the big, bad corporation.

MOVIE

Yes Man
Carl Allen (Jim Carrey) is an unadventurous stick-in-the-mud who walks out of a self-help class with a bold idea: Say yes to everything for an entire year. If you’re detecting shades of Liar Liar here, you’re not alone, despite the flick being partly based on Danny Wallace’s 2005 memoir. Still, we can’t fault Carrey for returning to a familiar formula following a flop like 23. Adding Zooey Deschanel doesn’t hurt, either. Now Carrey and company just have to see if audiences will say ‘yes’ at the box office when the movie hits theaters Dec. 19.

HARDCOVER

John Tyler
THE CONCEPT: The newest installment in the American Presidents series details the life of the first Vice President to get a job promotion mid-term.
ROOKIE RULER: When William Henry Harrison succumbed to pneumonia barely a month into his presidency, John Tyler became the first VP to make use of the order of succession. Not many were pleased. Former president Andrew Jackson thought Tyler an “imbecile in the executive chair,” while former president John Quincy Adams dismissively called him “acting president.”  But though “neglected by today’s historians and forgotten by his countrymen,” as author Gary May puts it, the 10th president at least made his “accidental” tenure eventful: During his four years in power, Tyler vetoed the Bank of the United States, was kicked out of his party, had his Cabinet resign on him mid-term, and helped bring Texas into the Union.
GET IT: Dec. 9

DVD

Casablanca Ultimate Collector’s Edition
IN A NUTSHELL: Casablanca, arguably the greatest Hollywood film of all time, returns to a TV screen near you in a two-disc ultimate collector’s edition.
PLAY IT AGAIN: In the familiar plot, Humphrey Bogart plays Rick, an American living in Casablanca, Morocco, during World War II. Then Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman), the woman who broke his heart years ago, shows up with a favor to ask. The 1942 film won three Oscars and generated some of the best movie lines of all time. On the DVD, you’ll find deleted scenes, interviews with Bogart’s and Bergman’s children, and a backstage tour of the filming hosted by Bogart’s wife, Lauren Bacall. We’re sensing the beginning of a beautiful friendship—with our DVD player.
GET IT: Dec. 2

PAPERBACK

Happy Accidents: Serendipity in Modern Medical Breakthroughs
THE CONCEPT: Major scientific discoveries take years of study, along with meticulous planning and testing. Or do they? In Happy Accidents, Dr. Morton Meyers shows that “serendipity is essential to discovery” by describing more than 100 instances—from Viagra to Prozac to pap smears—where luck helped lead to a medical breakthrough.
EUREKA MOMENTS: In the book, you’ll read how a runny nose helped Alexander Fleming develop penicillin, a contaminated polio vaccine led to the discovery of a tumor-inhibiting gene, a patient’s upset stomach helped a doctor realize that anti-inflammatory drugs can shrink polyps, and another scientist’s lab mistake helped Paul Ehrlich create a cure for syphilis.
GET IT: Dec. 8

 

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