The Mail
WELCOME, ASSHOLES
Although the conditions surrounding Matt Taibbi's resignation are obscure to me, I must say that if he resigned or was forced to resign because the "change in management" found his writing unpalatable, the "new management" are assholes and they are losing out, because Taibbi is an excellent columnist ("End of the Road," Matt Taibbi, August 17). He is (was) thought-provoking, funny, and sophisticated, and he was the only reason me and many of my friends logged on to nypress.com every week (we live in another part of the country).
Morgan Southwood, via email
MYSELF, A DRUNK
Nice profile of Alex Hall and the Brazen Head ("The Cask Master," Joshua M. Bernstein, August 17), but you missed a few points. First, the Brazen Head is at the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge. Second, the Brazen Head is the successor to TriBeCa's Riverrun, home to numerous New York Press Christmas parties. A lot of the same beloved shit is still there, including beloved Mr. Lou Sones and myself, a drunk. Third, the illustration you ran looked like a Mormon alcoholic in drag. Alex Hall is not "just under six feet tall with shoulder-length, stringy brown hair, off-kilter orthodontics and three days' scruff"; Alex Hall is Johnny Damon's hair lacquered onto Pip from Great Expectations. You can laugh at that beer-geek shit if you want, but at the last Brazen Head Caskfest, I fucked an underwear model. Under the influence of heather ale. Romance lives.
John Foster, Brooklyn, NY
SOUL LONG
So, Taibbi's no longer gonna pen for da rag? ("End of the Road," Matt Taibbi, August 17). So much for the soul of the Press. Damn. Well, it was a great run, Matt (can I call you Matt?), and I will be looking hard for your work wherever you end up, you sonofabitch.
Steven Blaisdell, Austin, TX
DUMMY ASS-HEAD?
I was stricken by how poorly Mark Ames? wrote his avid denigration of Chuck Klosterman's book Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs ("Please Kill Me," Mark Ames, vol. 16, issue 35, September 2003). Ames, your arguments lack logical constructions; sure you're ranting, but isn't that a bit dangerous when you want to come across as smarter than the author you are trashing? Just what do you mean when you call Klosterman a "one-man prose polluter, a living WMD employing the dummy ass-head as a delivery system"? Dummy ass-head?
At some point some one must have told you that it's all right to write what you feel and that you in fact had some skill (maybe your mom); and maybe you do, but, my God, I've never seen much a mistaken attempt to say what's inside. That's rarely what you need to do as an adult and a journalist. I'm not saying Klosterman's work was one of genius but at least there is some care in his diction and syntax. You write like a college student, man. And your self-righteous potty mouth makes me question how hard it is to acquire a job like your own. There's no way you went to a good school; and neither did Chuck, so maybe this puts you in some sort of competition with him, because all I learned from reading your review was that some mildly educated dude feels threatened by everything that is Chuck.
If you are as angry as you say you are (and you are not), then seek help and spare the rest of us. Moved to Moscow, eh? So what-if you don't like America, move but then shut up about why you moved. Is this about Bush?
You are the critic and Klosterman is the author and you want to prove that Klosterman is not funny but you make some pretty bad jokes in the process so no one believes you. The funniest part of your review to me was when you admitted that you are five years older than Klosterman. You need to catch up; you're in pretty bad shape for an older writer.
I could say all this to your face because I feel like I'm being honest, not reactionary, and I don't feel defensive about your review of Chuck's book. I did like the book, but I'd like to see someone take it down, too, because it does have its problems. You failed at this, however, and so I just wanted to respond to what I consider poor journalism.
William Hooker, via email
FLOWER POWER
What a shame that the pots and flowers impede your lunch-hour speed walks ("Flower Power?" The News Hole, August 10). So the Flower district follows the Meatpacking, the Coffee, the Garment and the Fish Market into oblivion. Or at least the outer boroughs. Leaving the city less authentic, but much safer for ambulating tourists, B&T'ers, and certain journalists.
Richard Gottlieb, via email