From NYRB, the Lost Jewish Culture: Harold Bloom reviews The Lost Jewish Culture The Dream of the Poem: Hebrew Poetry from Muslim and Christian Spain, 950–1492; and Racing Against Reality: A review of Falling Man by Don DeLillo. The playful literary legend: John Updike, now 75, says he "lucked out and became a writer," but his distinguished career says otherwise. When it comes to humor, Woody Allen dishes up a perfect deli mix in his new collection of sketches and stories, Mere Anarchy. "And that's why you're a blogger and not a writer": New Yorker writer gets touchy in the comments section of a blog.

From The New York Review of Magazines, an interview with Atoosa Rubenstein, from magazine queen to the MySpace scene; and inside the juiced-up, iron-pumped world of bodybuilding magazines. Magazines and newspapers

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