Two interesting links via Bookslut today:

You've probably been told by some of your righteous colleagues that it is wrong to accept SWAG on duty. Well how about when your SWAG is paid for by people's tax dollars? "The Greater Houston Convention and Visitors Bureau paid the airfare of noted Esquire food writer John Mariani," who will be putting two Houston restaurants on Esquire's "Best New Restaurants" list (second item). Somehow I am going to figure out how to turn this into a rationale about why you should root for Chicago over Houston in the World Series.

Let's all hate on Zadie Smith: not only was she 24 when she published White Teeth, her photos are too damn good too. Thanks to her, authors have to look good too. THANKS A LOT, ZADIE.