Intrigued by the possibility of "fact-checking," GC took the liberty of running yesterday's Observer piece through Eyeshot's Sam Lipsyte Love Calculator, knowing that -- unlike first-person reporting -- "love calculations" could never be affected by personal opinion. So, sure, everyone loves Lipsyte when a journalist comes knocking, but we wanted to know, how did they really feel? (Links take you to each suitor's on-the-record "feelings.")

Sam Lipsyte + Gerald Howard = 48% ♥            Assessment: Truth Spinner
Sam Lipsyte + Gary Shteyngart = 57% ♥           Assessment: Story Teller
Sam Lipsyte + Ira Silverberg = 57.5% ♥            Assessment: Loyalist
Sam Lipsyte + Morgan Entrekin = 47% ♥          Assessment: Indeterminist
Sam Lipsyte + Lorin Stein = 49% ♥                    Assessment: Editor

Journalists: why do you bother?