Mark Athitakis
@mathitak.bsky.social
1.1K followers 470 following 1.9K posts
Writer, mostly about books.
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The anger at the oppo taco ad is strong enough to power a mid-size American city.
Complaints about MLB's oppo taco ad.
(Not to mention the fact that the MLB app usually cuts off an announcer mid-sentence to serve a house ad about amazing baseball on the radio is.)
All of this is true and correct, though the thing that really grinds my gears about the Piazza ad is him saying, "Both teams played incredible."
The other day they had a non-"oppo taco" ad and I felt like I got discharged from a hospital.
At WaPo, I reviewed Susan Orlean's memoir, "Joyride," a quirky mix of writing tips, personal history, and semi-unintentional obituary for feature stories with no real hook beyond "I think this is interesting." www.washingtonpost.com/books/2025/1...
Review | Susan Orlean, master of unusual subjects, turns her gaze inward
The author of books such as “The Orchid Thief” and “The Library Book” delves into her own life story in “Joyride.”
www.washingtonpost.com
Seam, "The Problem With Me"
oh just play pavement ffs
Spotify daylist: 00s alternative chin-stroking Wednesday afternoon
All you really need to know about Ahwatukee is that its nickname is "all-white-tukee."
Reposted by Mark Athitakis
Reposted by Mark Athitakis
Sugar is back! New music at sugarcopperblue.com PLUS May 2026 live shows in NYC and London. All the info is here!
Reposted by Mark Athitakis
This is the kind of trading card that gets me out of bed in the morning
But do you have a gem mint Bronson Pinchot rookie card?
Bill Goldstein's "The World Broke in Two," about Woolf, Eliot, Lawrence, and Forster in 1922.
Looking for books that look at a brief crucial period in an artist's life--like @elijahwald.bsky.social 's Dylan Goes Electric or @peteramescarlin.bsky.social 's latest on Springsteen + Born To Run (or @warrenzanes.bsky.social on the Boss/Nebraska). Would love suggestions esp on nonmusic subjects
Same guy who (basically) said, "Hey, lookit me, I've got the tallest building in New York now" on 9/11.
Trump at the Charlie Kirk memorial event: "They fired sniper rifles at ICE agents, and me. But I made a turn at a good time. I made a turn at a good time. Charlie couldn't believe it, actually."
You should read reviews. And write them. And subscribe to publications that run them.
What's your totally ordinary opinion about books that you nonetheless find compelled to share when asked on a social media site such as this one for your most extreme/unhinged/hottest takes?

I'll go first: manga is popular among young people because manga often features young people.
Reposted by Mark Athitakis
the new president of the LDS church is a @uchicagopress.bsky.social author- A Criminal Justice System and the Indigent: A Study
of Chicago and Cook County, 1968
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/14/u...
Dallin H. Oaks Named President of the Mormon Church
www.nytimes.com
This is lovely, thanks. Funny thing is, I hate the Style Council but admire a lot of acts that could've conceivably opened for the Style Council.
Pleasant discovery, thanks to a passing mention in a novel: The Pale Fountains, mid- / late-80s Britpop in the vein of Aztec Camera, Jazz Butcher, Housemartins/Beautiful South, Railway Children, etc. Trumpeter went on to join James, as one does. www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6RF...
Pale Fountains - Jean's Not Happening
YouTube video by thoutah
www.youtube.com
Yeah, my kid is mostly into pop, but he's also seen "School of Rock" a dozen times so he gets the appeal. Whatever works.
Funny you mention that. He was just noodling around with the National Anthem and I'm almost certain he's never heard the Jimi-at-Woodstock version.
Bought my kid an electric guitar for his birthday just like he wanted and now he's playing RHCP and 3EB on it. Teenagers are the absolute worst.
Here in Arizona, there are also *lots* of books of Mormon doctrine. But I came across a nice stack of 80s Grantas once. That was a good score.
I've been around the block enough times to know that my library's "vintage book sale" is an invitation to sort through stacks of encyclopedias, Chilton car manuals, and Reader's Digest Condensed Books. Going anyway, just in case.