Baseball

“I wrote 63 songs this year. They’re all about Jeter.” Just kidding. The game we love, the players we hate, and more.

Culture and Criticism

From Norman Mailer to Wendy Pepper — everything on film, TV, books, music, and snacks (shut up, raisins), plus the Girls’ Bike Club.

Donors Choose and Contests

Helping public schools, winning prizes, sending a crazy lady in a tomato costume out in public.

Stories, True and Otherwise

Monologues, travelogues, fiction, and fart humor. And hens. Don’t forget the hens.

The Vine

The Tomato Nation advice column addresses your questions on etiquette, grammar, romance, and pet misbehavior. Ask The Readers about books or fashion today!

King King Fu: Monkey, Wrenched
March 31, 2008 · 11 Comments
<I>King King Fu</I>: Monkey, Wrenched

“Toto, we’re not in Kansas anymo– oh, wait.”
King Kung Fu is painfully bad — in the few spots where it isn’t grindingly slow and dull — and the great potential contained in the title for …

“‘Overrated!’ ‘Brilliant!’ ‘Overrated!’ ‘Brilliant!'”
March 31, 2008 · 177 Comments

I’ve never broken up with a guy based on his literary tastes (or lack of same), but then, I don’t let it get to relationship status in the first place if the guy doesn’t read, …

Cue “Hallelujah Chorus”
March 31, 2008 · 23 Comments

It’s Opening Day, ladies and gentlemen, thank God, and even though the Yanks have already gotten rained out for the home opener, it’s an embarrassment of baseball riches around the dial right now — KC/Detroit, …

The 13th Annual Baseball In Literature And Culture Conference
March 26, 2008 · 7 Comments

I hope I can update in the next few days; if I can’t, it’s because I’m tied up with this. I’m sad that they slotted my panel opposite the one that’s discussing The Natural, but …

The Vine: March 25, 2008
March 25, 2008 · No Comment

My husband and I just moved into a new house and our landlords are First-Time Landlords, which means that they are very giddy and excited about it. They have been great, but they are a …

Margot At The Wedding
March 25, 2008 · 8 Comments
<I>Margot At The Wedding</I>

Doesn’t hit, quite, this one. I liked it, it held my interest, but Baumbach makes several choices that squandered some of the story’s potential, not least the use of John Turturro.
Turturro is, I suspect, underrated …

The Long Walk
March 22, 2008 · 74 Comments

After Michelle’s comment about the novella in the comments on Misery, I went over to Wikipedia to read the summary, because I’ve always wondered if I interpreted the ending correctly. Spoilery discussion after the jump.

Team Supersnack: Kicking AIDS In The Balls
March 21, 2008 · No Comment

Once again, Team Supersnack is fixing to thump AIDS in the goolies on the New York City AIDS Walk. We’ve got a hefty fund-raising goal this year — $50,000 — and I myself have taken …

The Vine: March 21, 2008
March 21, 2008 · 31 Comments

Hi Sarah,
All of my other resources have let me down; your readers are possibly my final hope.
Here’s the situation: I have an incredibly hard time finding shoes. Like, “I wear a women’s size 14 narrow” …

Misery
March 20, 2008 · 35 Comments
<I>Misery</I>

“After I finish shaving you, I’ll spoon-feed you some exposition.”  
I hesitate to criticize Stephen King film adaptations that turn out well, because so many of them don’t, and Misery is a good one — …