I am greatly relieved that the universe is finally explainable. I was beginning to think it was me. - Woody Allen Here, in his first collection since his three hilarious classics Getting Even, Without Feathers, and Side Effects, Woody Allen has managed to write a book that not only answers the most profound questions of human existence but is the perfect size to place under any short table leg to prevent wobbling. I awoke Friday, and because the universe is expanding it took me longer than usual to find my robe, he explains in a piece on physics called Strung Out. In other flights of inspirational sanity we are introduced to a cast of characters only Allen could imagine: Jasper Nutmeat, Flanders Mealworm, and the independent film mogul E. Coli Biggs, just to name a few. Whether he is writing about art, sex, food, or crime ( Pugh has been a policeman as far back as he can remember. His father was a notorious bank robber, and the only way Pugh could get to spend time with him was to apprehend him ) he is explosively funny. In This Nib for Hire, a Hollywood bigwig comes across an author' s book in a little country store and describes it in a way that aptly captures this magnificent volume: Actually, the producer says, I' d never seen a book remaindered in the kindling section before.