The good news, for us: Sandra Tsing Loh is having a midlife snit-fit. A nasty, nerve-wracking crisis of the soul. Yay!

Is 'Yay!' the appropriate response, you, delicate soul, wonder? Of course it is, grasshopper! Because when Loh's feeling low (apologies, cliche, she's so sick of it) is when she's at her high point, at the top of her turn-your-head-inside-out writing, performing, philosophical self.

And that began the funny bone, heat-seeking missile, "Mother on Fire: A True Motherf%#S@ Story About Parenting" (Crown, 298 pages, $23), the "story of the year I exploded into flames ... Whatever vehicle you were so confidently hurtling along in Act One of your life ... that buggy will skitter sideways into a ditch, flip over, burst into flames; firemen will have to use the Jaws of Life to get you out. And if you do not find another car to climb into, well. ..."

Loh's other car turns out to be the big battle against the stunningly inept, calcified Los Angeles Unified School District, on behalf of her kids and all kids, a fight that becomes her "true liberation" from self-indulgent "napping, well-creamed girl" into activist — and, more startling, optimist.

I saw the first incarnation of "Mother on Fire" as a one-person play in L.A. — it ran for seven months. With luck, Loh will resurrect it and bring it here. (Paging the rep!) For now, take "Mother on Fire," the novel, as a burnt offering of the first order.

Since Twelve's stated goal is to publish "no more than one book per month" and to make those works "the singular book, by authors who have a unique perspective and compelling authority," they have to be mighty picky about who and what they publish. So, when you're swinging for the fences every time you are at bat, it's a no-brainer to pencil in Christopher Buckley as your cleanup hitter.

And Buckley, the Sultan of Swat of wild and wondrous comic novels, smacks one over the fence with "Supreme Courtship" (Twelve, 285 pages, $24), his 14th book. He's also the author of countless New Yorker Shouts & Murmurs gems. "Supreme Courtship" finds the president of the U.S. of A. ticked off at the Senate for rejecting his Supreme Court nominee, so he takes revenge by nominating TV's most popular judge, Pepper Cartwright, as his backup choice. Pepper's a hottie, the Senate won't dare go against the will of the people (will they?) and, besides, the president is fed up and doesn't want to win re-election in November anyway: "I'm not the sort to hang around where I'm not wanted. But there's a point to be made and, by gosh, I'm going to make it."

Point taken. Funny point taken.

As "Cheech & Chong: The Unauthorized Biography" (Simon & Schuster, 251 pages, $23.95) makes perfectly clear, Tommy Chong did inhale (and inhale and inhale ...) back in the day, and pretty much every day since then. At age 70, America's favorite stoner is still going strong, smacking hypocrites and party poopers in this engaging memoir of "the Lowrider and the Hippie" who "recorded and sold millions of albums, acted in and directed six major motion pictures, and appeared on almost every major television talk show" at their peak.

"Unauthorized" begins with Chong sitting in the Los Angeles airport last year when Cheech walks by, and Chong just watches him go: "What caused the rift that has separated us for more than 20 years?" The "only way" to explain the famous showbiz fissure "is to go back to the beginning," and Chong is off and smokin', er, running.

I'll be the first to cheerfully admit that I have biases — too many to count, deal with it. From that lengthy list, I cheerfully admit to being surprised anytime an actor can write; heck, that an actor can think and not just parrot always startles me. Evan Handler, of "Sex and the City" and "Californication," can testify for the prosecution at my trial; his "It's Only Temporary: The Good News and the Bad News of Being Alive" (Riverhead, 223 pages, $24.95) is a terrific and thoughtful memoir.

Handler, who survived leukemia in his 20s and is now contending with a middle age he wasn't expected to see, tackles big topics: love, death, depression, bidets. He has a light yet serious touch in "a book I've attempted to write in a manner that mimics how we get to know other human beings more accurately than a traditional narrative."

Dave Zirin makes hay of the link between the games we play and politics in "A People's History of Sports in the United States" (The New Press, 302 pages, $26.95). The book's subtitle, which is oddly not printed on the cover but is on the title page, sums it up: "250 Years of Politics, Protest, People, and Play."

Zirin, an author ("Welcome to the Terrordome") and blogger ("The Edge of Sports") with notable Web readership, goes heavy — and sometimes heavy-handed — on the history, so much so that sports takes a back seat. The left-wing tone will be a turn-off for some fans, even as the historical context will be an eye-opener for others.

To find out more about Martin Zimmerman and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

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