The Times Book Review gets its sticky, intellectual fingers all over former public editor Dan Okrent's book and promptly passes it off to Sir Harold Evans (whose wife, if you recall, is so over New York), who puzzlingly gives it a few, punishing slaps and then goes on to declare Okrent the best thing to happen to journalism since alcohol. Gee, hate fuck much? That, plus poetic praise for David Orr, in Intern Alexis' weekly literati cheat-sheet. Let her give herself to you, after the jump.

Oh, the things we've missed in the Sunday Times. It's not just showers and deodorant anymore; by not reading yesterday's Sunday Styles — we were on vacation; give us a break — we missed yet another important life lesson. It's a bit of wisdom from Pat Lillis, who, according to her frontpage style-section profile, is the Pet Detective of the Hamptons. (What, your hometown didn't have one of those? Hicks.) Young Vito Schnabel, son of artist Julian, provides our teachable moment:

We don't typically read the business section of the Sunday Times, and we always thought we'd be OK without it. But apparently it contained some recent advice we don't know how we've survived without. Thankfully, when a news story falls through the cracks, Simon Dumenco picks it up for a column he calls Media Guy. In this case, he calls our attention to a "Career Couch" column about coworkers with BO:

And so you ask yourself, who — in this era of Google and Nexis and online dictionaries and encyclopedias — who would ever bother to use an old-fashioned reference librarian anymore, let alone the New York Public Library's vaunted — and, as it turns out, not-yet-eliminated — telephone reference service? The Times knows:

"NYT: Rufus Wainwright 'Hero' For Tribute to Judy Garland... " [Drudge]
Rufus Wainwright Pays Tribute to Judy Garland at Carnegie Hall [NYT]

• Tyler Green asks the hard questions about NYT art critic Grace Glueck's relationship with the Clark Art Institute: "[W]ho at the NYT knew? And why wasn't it flagged as an obvious conflict of interest?" Our question: Grace Glueck? Clark Art Institute? Should either of these names ring a bell? [Arts Journal]
• Boobies + alcohol + college kids + Internet = $. If you've never read a piece about CollegeHumor.com, today's the day to smack yourself in the head and say, "I coulda done that!" [Fox News]
• Majority of English hacks privately educated, owe their jobs to school connections. Thank God things are different here in the U.S.A. [Guardian]
• Blogger-turned-Time columnist sticks it to The Man, gets fingered. [The Nation]
• Acting like a hyperventilating batshit loon who's one step away from the bughouse is one thing, but when you add props to the occasion, you're crossing the line. [Marketwatch]

Let's take a moment to look at the fascinating crew that makes up the Big Three Times flick describers. There's Stephen Holden, who, when not busy starting beefs with Disney Channel talent, can be found working out his issues in public. There's Tony Scott, who does whatever the hell it is he does. And then, of course, there's Manohla. Ms. Dargis, brought in when Elvis Mitchell decided that spending time with Cambridge co-eds was preferable to drawing the short straw that forces you to share space in the screening room with Lou Lumenick, takes a look at new Jack Black vehicle Nacho Libre. The film, already noted elsewhere for its "implicit racism," inspires Dargis to ascend to this apogee of critical assessment:

Impending city resident John Cook sees something curious in The Times' coverage of the unfortunate tourist who was stabbed on the C train yesterday afternoon:

Maybe it's summertime laziness kicking in, but this week's edition of the Times Book Review was kind of "eh." Reviewer Tom Bissell lovingly gives Rory Stewart a handjob; Garrison Keillor gives a book report about Harper Lee; letter-writers don't like reading about food. Dammit, it's summer — where are the bikini waxing books? The trashy romance novels? The moving melanoma stories? Please, just a little joy. That's all we ask.

• Times covers TMZ; remains too dainty to use the phrase "firecrotch." [NYT]
• Slate's Jack Shafer has a big old man crush on business journo Joe Nocera; in fact, he loves him more than meth. [Slate]
• Saveur food editor's bag of honey shuts down entire airport; thousands unable to flee the hell that is Tallahassee. [AP]
• Freelance Internet "reporters" pretty much just make shit up. Surprised? Yeah, us either. [Straight Up]
• Advertising agencies are white white white. You mean black folks don't actually think of fast food burgers as hors d'oeuvres? [NYT]

A reader writes of the latest marketing stunt, occuring on the corner of 6th Avenue and 57th Street:

At the dorkalicious Webby awards last night, Fishbowl NY accosted Times columnist Thomas Friedman for a quick interview. In regards to his column being hidden behind the Berlin wall of TimesSelect, Friedman says, "I hate it. It pains me enormously." On the bright side, he reminds us, he can still hop on a plane and travel to whatever far-fetched place he fancies, and the Gray Lady will have to foot the bill (suckers). But as he chuckles his way through telling of how it nonetheless hurts to lose readers in Hungary, we can't help but think one thing: how long until Friedman and Frank Rich have a jolly-off?

Today's Times takes note of a burgeoning trend in fiction: product placement. It seems that companies like Procter & Gamble are encouraging writers of young adult novels to mention their products in return for help with marketing and promotion. While the usual voices are trotted out to decry the creeping commercialization of YA literature (God forbid the kids should be subject to subliminal advertising while reading about drug addiction and blowjob parties), we're not exactly sure how new this trend in fact is. (In fact, we sort of remember a humorous Mark Leyner piece in The New Yorker on the subject, oh, about fifteen years ago.) Either way, product placement is here, and everyone's just going to have to get use to seeing ad content in places where it would previously have been unacceptable. Now if you'll excuse us, we're going to go drink some Wild Turkey bourbon. Wild Turkey: It goes down smooth and makes you feel real good. Drink responsibly.

Picture it: An industry dinosaur forced, through its own adherence to outdated methods and technology, to watch leaner, more dynamic competitors overtake it though innovation and decentralization. If you guessed General Motors, you're right! If you guessed The Times, you're also right! What we have here today is a battle royale between two faded powerhouses who were last at the top of their game when your grandpa was begging your grandma for just a glimpse of her ankle.

Hot on the heels of her recent morning show widow-bashing, Ann Coulter makes an appearance in today's Times, where media explicator David Carr takes a look at the New Canaan Natterer. It's a wagging finger piece, complete with fanciful line art, and it allows Carr to get off a few good ones at Coulter's expense: She's cynical, "all knuckles and know-how", her pronouncements are "uninterrupted by conscience, rectitude or logic," and she lies about her age (45, if you're scoring at home). So how does a venomous harpy who doesn't even believe the hate that she spews continue to play a part in our national conversation? Carr digs deep to reveal the shocking formula behind her success: controversy causes sales! More in sorrow than anger, Carr concludes "the fact that she is one of the leading political writers of our age says something about the rest of us". We agree, we're all to blame. Particularly those of us who spend over one thousand words in the nation's Paper of Record perpetuating her publicity.

Don't get us wrong. We know Times Baghdad bureau chief John Burns is a swashbuckling foreign correspondent; we admire his reporting and we're humbled by his willingness to spend so many years in such a horrible and dangerous place. (Our most taxing reportorial excursion is typically to Michael's — which, to be honest, is a long and expensive trip that inevitably leaves us running for our lives.) But we really wish they'd get the guy a new headshot — and perhaps a trim, or at least a comb, beforehand. Because the guy in the current picture? He's been wandering Central Park all night, he knows — really knows — that the end of the world is coming — and could you maybe spare some change?

Oh dear. Look what we missed on 43rd Street this afternoon:

This just in from that place just over the Brooklyn Bridge:

Who the... what the... how the... huh?! The real test of whether Democrats can take back Congress will come when there are actually elections for Congress, in November?! Christ, really? See, with members-only wisdom like that, no wonder TimesSelect is a success.

• Times Baghdad bureau likes 'em young; Times Mag editor Gerry Marzorati likes 'em late-30-something and in business. [NYO]
• And James Wolcott likes 'em monocled and on a compiliation DVD set. [New Criterion]
• Seth Mnookin says Da Vinci Code author Dan Brown is a plagiarist, if not necessarily by the legal definition. Brown says Mnookin is a pain in his ass, if not necessarily by the legal definition. [NYT]
• Huffington Post launches a media blog, "Eat the Press." Clever, eh? [HuffPost]
• Laddie McLadlad Greg Gutfeld also launches a blog, "The Daily Gut." Clever, eh? [Jossip]