Jon Katz, dog lover, befuddled farmer in upstate New York and author of 20 books, many of which take place on Bedlam Farm, is returning to the Vineyard to promote his latest book, Going Home. Those of us fortunate enough to see Mr. Katz on his last trip here can pass on the news that his talents as a writer are eclipsed only by his abilities before a live audience. His talk takes place on Friday, Oct. 28, at 7:30 p.m. at the Bunch of Grapes Bookstore in Vineyard Haven.

Short plays, like short stories, have never caught on with the popular culture to the extent to which they so richly deserve. And yet they offer such a better return, really, for the public’s entertainment dollar. More stories, more sets of characters, more writers, directors and all of the other creative elements that go into live theatre for the same single ticket price.

Something about a celebration of chocolate calls to mind a French chateau dining room adorned with the glow of a thousand candles. On a long table set with a flowing white linen tablecloth, you’ll find gold serving dishes heaped with chocolate squares, chocolate creams, chocolate brioches, chocolate-dipped strawberries and, rising from the center, to quote Proust, the duke of luxe himself, “An architectural cake, as urbane and familiar as it was imposing.”

If your idea of a homemade gift of food is a paper plate of chocolate chip cookies (recipe on the package; can’t go wrong with that), bound up in cellophane and tied with a ribbon, then the new book Gourmet Gifts: 100 Delicious Recipes for Every Occasion to Make Yourself and Wrap With Style (Harvard Common Press, $19.95), is going to make you feel like the last Neanderthal when the Cro-Magnons announced, “Look, we just do everything better.”

There’s an old Yankee saying: There are old mushroom pickers and there are bold mushroom pickers, but there are no old, bold mushroom pickers.

If you’re of a philosophical mind-set, you might wonder why Mother Nature produced thousands of mushrooms of varying shapes, colors and sizes, and created a few of them so delicious that we’re willing to risk our lives by mistakenly eating any one of the poisonous variety. Why can’t they all go right into the frying pan?

Caveat emptor: If you watch this thoroughly engrossing film, you may very well recognize as-yet-undiagnosed symptoms of learning disabilities or other psychological variations in your own family.