A Pocket Guide to Vietnam, 1962

This surprisingly timeless text reprints the original document issued by the US Department of Defense to Americans traveling to Vietnam as part of the effort to prevent the global spread of Communism. Brimming with straightforward advice ("You will fulfill your duty best by remembering at all times that you are in a land where dignity, restraint, and politeness are highly regarded."), the book illuminates recent history and an ancient culture.

May 22: The video game Pac-Man, featuring "the most iconic character from the golden age of arcade video games," was released on this day in 1980. Over the next decade, gamers spent over $2.5 billion in quarters…

Ethan Rutherford and Matt Burgess (Dogfight: A Love Story) on the writing of Rutherford's surreal and fiercely funny story collection The Peripatetic Coffin

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