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!

October Men
March 5, 2007 · No Comment

I seem to remember enjoying Kahn’s baseball writing in the past — I know I read The Boys of Summer years ago — but this one is too fond of itself by half and goes …

NYPD: Stories of Survival from the World’s Toughest Beat
March 5, 2007 · No Comment

Can someone explain to me, please, how it is that pieces which previously appeared in reputable publications with copy editors then wind up riddled with typos in a compilation?   Argh.   It’s really hard …

Note Found in a Bottle
March 5, 2007 · No Comment

It’s a really good, fast read; the directness of the prose reminds me of Hemingway’s A Moveable Feast, and also of Joan Didion, but it’s less mannered than either of those two.   A lot …

Nobody’s Perfect
March 5, 2007 · No Comment

Really wonderful work by Anthony Lane; the movie reviews are top-notch, the book section is chewy but not too dense, and the piece on the bestseller list circa 1994 made me giggle out loud at …

Nine Innings
March 5, 2007 · No Comment

Okrent’s diction gets a little high for the subject sometimes, but it’s very accessible, and because it’s about a single game in 1982, all these baseball names from my childhood keep popping up and making …

My Pet Virus: The True Story of a Rebel Without a Cure
March 5, 2007 · No Comment

It’s really good; EW gave it a B+, but I think that’s low.   It’s really funny and a fast read.   Shawn’s full tour schedule is <a href=”http://blog.myspace.com/mypetvirus” target=”_blank”>here</a>.   Tell him Sars sent …

The Museum of Hoaxes
March 5, 2007 · No Comment

It ends up serving as a comment on human nature, really.

Murder Among The Rich and Famous
March 5, 2007 · No Comment

Some of the writing is clumsy, but it suits the vintage style of the material and isn’t distracting.   A quick read, and particularly hilarious on the Tarnower murder. (9/30/03)

Motherless Brooklyn
March 5, 2007 · No Comment

It’s very good, but do you ever find yourself reading a sex scene and wondering why — like, that there’s some rule of fiction stating that any novel for grown-ups has to have some sex …

Monster
March 5, 2007 · No Comment

It’s a book about the endless rewriting of Up Close and Personal, which is one of the weakest and most pointless Hollywood-product movies I’ve seen from the last ten years, so it’s cool to hear …