by Susie
The New Republic has decided to cover the World Cup with a blog called, GOAL POST: Franklin Foer and friends on the World Cup.
UPDATE! Tuesday 6.20.06
Less than 24 hours after Gawker picked up this post you see below, I opened an email this morning from Franklin Foer hisownself and I am now blogging for the very blog I mocked. And very happily I might add. In the words of Cat Stevens, "Ooooh baby it's a wild world." Read the post that follows and then don't miss my hot-off-the-virtual-presses debut post on tnr.com's GOAL POST right here.
Here are my thoughts in 3 digestable snippets:
Snippet #1
So who reads this stuff?
Well in this post, Franklin Foer (someone who I think is related to that rich Brooklyn writer who is married to a writer, both of whom I’ve never read) writes,
"It turns out that we're not the only opinion journal/literary review with a World Cup blog. The great John Lanchester is doing the job for the LRB. It's terrific stuff. For you reading pleasure, a small sample:"
For you pleasure, Frank? Allow me to borrow from World Cup mania when I say, "TYYYPPPPPOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Of course the answer to who reads this stuff is obvious – other writers of opinion/literary journals. …and people like me who clicked because they were confused as to how we got the spam for tnr's website in the first place. I'm pregnant and haven’t had a tipple since winter, so I don’t think I blacked out and registered, but who knows?
Snippet #2
A post by one Glen Luchford is titled:
I HAVE A GENUINE QUESTION, NOT RHETORICAL
Because when a literary type asks a real question, it's headline news.
Glen is proposing something about England’s team and he ends with, "What do you think?... Anyone? Anyone?"
And no one leaves a comment. Poor lamb.
I wanted to leave a comment for him but found it's only open to subscribers. Of course a brief look at the comments shows most subscribers are men who only comment to add something pedantic and/or scolding. But this is cool as scolding pedants = their target demo.
However, I saw that Glen is a QPR supporter, so luckily he has developed a keen immunity to disappointment. (Private to EH: zing!)
Snippet #3
The email spam I got touts the blog thusly,
"At the TNR website, we have a World Cup blog that features some top writers--including the memoirist Sean Wilsey and the novelist Aleksandar Hemon--as well as cameos from film directors, TV writers, and other friends of the magazine."
Here’s how *I* would describe it,
"At the TNR website, we have a World Cup blog that features an all-male revue (11 male contributors -- Foer even calls his contributors gents, how adorable and wanna be Brity!) including a memoirist you never heard of and a novelist with a very exotic, sexy literary sounding name -- as well as cameos from a lot of other boys Franklin knows. Come on by and catch up on your sleep or join all the writer's relatives in wondering if the contributors are getting paid for this. In short, if you don’t like photos, levity, a woman’s input or if you don’t mind that they don't update with news when a game happens (UKRAINE TODAY, HELLO?), but rather stick to a majority of talk about England*, you’ll love it!"
Note: Of course I am aware that I probably know/admire or should know/admire some of the contributors and that by making fun I am ruining my chances of ever being invited to some Brooklyn/DC literary-type BBQ where everyone is balding, wearing snazzy glasses and trying to out-facial hair and erudite each other while they also try to figure out how most of them begged, borrowed or stole the downpayment on their real estate, but them's the breaks.
*Full disclosure: My man is from England and to be honest, I too am primarily interested in England. Happy now?
More of me on Soccer here. Other places too, but whateve.
In conclusion:
GO ARROWS!
Hubba hubba! A buffet of USDA prime manliness.
