Spend an evening with John Pollack's oddly endearing tale. Sure, he does (finally!) build a boat out of wine corks and sail it all of 133 miles on the Douro in Portugal, but that's not the story. His is a bittersweet and altogether touching tale of family, career and careerism, friendship and loss. Pollack, a talented young Washington speechwriter now living in New York, wraps his search for a place in the world around a deliciously absurd childhood fantasy. Like Witold Rybczynski (who provided a backcover blurb), the book made us smile -- and brought a lump to the throat. You can see pictures of the boat and read more about it at corkboat.com.  (PGL42, $14.95)