What our writers love this week

TV

Lil' Kim

Someone call the cops. The rapper was robbed — robbed! — on ABC's "Dancing With the Stars" this week. An electrifying performer and fierce competitor, she made magic on the dance floor with partner Derek Hough. But she lost on Tuesday's show (to Ty Murray, of all people), depriving viewers of what could have been the best "DWTS" finale of all time: Lil' Kim's sass vs. Gilles Marini's sizzle. (8 p.m. Mondays on ABC ... if you still care.)

Lynn Jacobson,

Seattle Times Arts & Life editor

DVDs

"Enchanted April"

Those who appreciate wisteria and sunshine will be amazed to realize that A) it's been 17 years since "Enchanted April" graced theaters, and B) it's never been released on DVD. The latter injustice is finally rectified this week, with a widescreen DVD release featuring a commentary track from director Mike Newell (who went on to direct "Four Weddings and a Funeral" and the fourth "Harry Potter" movie) and producer Ann Scott. The film, a tale of four women in post-World War I London who plan an Italian vacation together, is a gentle charmer; just the thing for spring.

Moira Macdonald,

Seattle Times movie critic

Books

"Andorra"

There's something a little "off" about Peter Cameron's Andorra — the place, not the novel. It's a Mediterranean coastal town, for one thing, unlike the landlocked principality in the Pyrenees. It's also full of preposterously named residents (Sophonsobia Quay, Vladimir Afgroni, etc.) who take an unsettling interest in the newcomer in their midst: an American fleeing a failed life shrouded in mystery. Reading like a collision between Noël Coward and Franz Kafka, this recently reissued 1997 novel may be Cameron's masterpiece.

Michael Upchurch,

Seattle Times arts writer