It's Always Sunny in Seattle

On a regular basis, we here in the Northwest are subjected to great injustices. The rain, for instance. Or, more to the point, the fact that the sky prefers to wear a soggy woolen sweater instead of a pair of Ray-Ban sunglasses and Bahama jams. While the rest of the country is talking about the beach and eating mafugin hot dogs, we’re simmering soup and trying to keep our pale complexion from turning translucent. What the feck. At any rate, we’ll do our best to compensate, coloring our days with something, anything, resembling the sun. Here’s today’s batch of shiny morsels: Geoffrey Hill is the new professor of poetry at Oxford. Shine on, right? At least for him. But what about all the editors out there, what have they got to bask in? Visit the Review of Higher Education for a deserved slice of sunshine pie. Anis Shivani calls the Best American Poetry series a big load of stormy weather, video games catch their rays in Salon, and Eugenides’s novel illuminates some memorable questions in Fiar. Elsewhere, a writer/photographer highlights his dad with a pretty new book, and Gizmodo gives us a glimpse at some enviable bookshelves. Here comes the sun. — Kevin Murphy

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Move That Flag, Betsy Ross, I'm Trying To Watch The Game

Happy mafuckin Flag Day! Yeah, we’re pumped (Go Celtics!), not only because summer is pretty much here, but also because so many mafuckin cool things are presently grabbing our attention. If you’re a fan of sports, these days are lined with roses, to which we offer the following reports: The New Yorker has published a book of sportswriting, with the likes of McPhee, Updike, Amis, and other superstars, you know it’s gonna be mafuckin good. The Economist weighs in on why and how soccer helps restore nations — mafuck! Elsewhere, the LA Times reflects on John Wooden the storied basketball coach and John Wooden the basketball ball coach who wrote stories. And what about bullfighting? Go get your BF fix, just make sure you’re of age. Okay, okay, sports are great and all, but what about the lit world? What’s happening there? Very mafuckin funny you should mafuckin ask. David Mitchell is dipping his hands in pixie dust and the Guardian thinks he’s a genius for doing so, Oxford University is once again embroiled in controversy over its next professor of poetry — sigh — and the Dallas Morning News suggests the 80′s were Bret Easton Ellis’s heyday. Sport, that’s no mafuckin joke. — Kevin Murphy

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Every so often we are filled with an urge to do something important. Instead of plotting narrative techniques and trolling literature sites, we feel the urge to take a bus to Louisiana and help clean the Gulf, or begin government work devoted to the public good, or study medicine and treat impoverished people living in third world countries. Such are noteworthy and, we’d wager, common impulses held by the modern-day writer/editor. Regardless, onward we plot, onward we troll, because we know that even in moments of self-doubt, great importance lies in our daily literature habits (that’s our excuse and we’re sticking to it). Neanderthals are important, go read their epic tale in Salon. Roddy Doyle is an important Irish writer, the third installment in his Henry Smart trilogy is given attention in SF Gate. What’s more important than the NBA finals, especially when it’s between the Celtics and the Lakers? Nothing, according to George Packer. Seamus Heaney’s poems have surely had great impact on humanity, Rain Taxi provides commentary. If our memories broke, how would we remember anything important? Computers, you big dummy. The Boston Review explains. Jessica Ferri’s novel is reviewed in The Second Pass, and in Critical Mass a panel of literary critics talks about the future lives of literary critics. Important indeed. — Kevin Murphy

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Mann, Not Man

Thomas Mann and playoff hockey have never once been mentioned in the same sentence. Never also has Darwin and his theory of natural selection climbed into a rain-soaked taxi with author Mary Karr. What do Cory Doctorow and Alan Warner have in common? Probably something, but probably not much. After all, they’re vastly different writers. But in today’s post they’re linked by our admiration. And, just for good measure, we’re including a story about a South African football team, the implications of which has rankled and pickled and enlivened our brain. What to do about it? Shoot, mofo. Just. Read. On. It’s Monday’s Body of Work and, like a long literary bus rise, we’re driving forward with the salt of the earth. — Kevin Murphy

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What Are You Reading When The War's Over?

Struggle is inevitable. War, likely. Sebastian Junger knows, as evidenced by his new book, which chronicles his time in Afghanistan in 2007. The Washington Post waves a flag at his efforts. Nicholas Carr, a technology writer, has declared that the internet makes us stupid. But what, pray tell, will happen when we read his books? Find out in Salon. Martin Amis is a literary warmonger. His latest conquest is victimized in the Second Pass. Finnegans Wake gets another chance at life, a short story collection is remembered for its prose and the classic review that pushed it towards victory. NPR shoots friendly fire at Frederick Reiken’s Day For Night, and in the Guardian, a bunch of politicians talk about the literature that’s inspired them. Like we said, war is likely.  — Kevin Murphy

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