Winner Winner? I won a free dinner for ...

Winner?

I won a free dinner for two from New York Press and I have not received it. Please, I went through a lot of trouble to spot the fat guy in gay trunks outside photograph and bother to take the next level and let that be known because I am hungry. And I won! Too much time has passed for me not to be crunchy on this matter. If I have to contact David Horowitz I will. Eliot Spitzer ditto. God, I got it already. Please send it, STAT.

Arlette Lurie, Manhattan

He's Hack-tacular!

I wanted to note Adam Bulger's error in his review of Ryan Gilbey's It Don't Worry Me: Nashville, Jaws, Star Wars and Beyond ("Books," 7/9). He writes that Sidney Lumet directed Marathon Man when, in fact, it had been John Schlesinger.

However, what really grates on me is Bulger's referring to Lumet as a "hack." Let's take a look at some of this veteran director's filmography: Dog Day Afternoon, Fail-Safe, The Fugitive Kind, Long Day's Journey into Night, Murder on the Orient Express, Network, The Pawnbroker, Serpico, 12 Angry Men, The Verdict and A View from the Bridge. If this is the work of a "hack," then Bulger needs to get his head examined! But in the meantime, he needs to get his facts straight about who directed what.

Barry S. Levy, Manhattan

Shut Up, Tracy

Ever since your junta took over New York Press, the quality of the content has been in freefall. In particular, your "Mail" section seems to have taken a real dive. Get a clue.

Tracy Meadows, Brenham, TX

Stern Rebuke

"George Bush should be hung up by his balls. No kidding. He should be grabbed from behind, restrained, forcibly stripped below the waist and a big hook should be pushed through his scrotum." ("Cage Match," 7/16)

This is journalism? This revoltingly detailed description of the testicular throttling and piercing of the president didn't inspire me to read on. Maybe that's fine with you, and maybe it's Taibbi's goal as a writer (or yours, collectively, as a publication) to be the shock jocks of New York newspapers.

I hope that's not the case, that you can see some value in presenting your points of view in a manner that isn't, above all else, gratuitous and crass?I can get that on Howard Stern. I can get graphic and crude from my eight-year-old nephew (of a more imaginative and less juvenile caliber than Taibbi supplies). I seek you out because your publication is insightful and informative. Involved descriptions of genital mutilation of public figures tend to detract from that insight somewhat.

Matt Loehrer, Olathe, KS

Brown Spots

Head Start and Section 8 housing programs are "the very balls" ("Cage Match," 7/16) of the black community?! Amid the morass of liberal racism that this article amounted to, this sentiment stood out as absolutely Klan-like. What are you, from Amherst?

Thomas Brown, Manhattan

Good Golly Miss Molly

After reading David Amsden's Important Things that Don't Matter, I was about to throw in the towel. While flipping every page of that book, I thought that I could have written it better. What is this kid whining about? And if he truly feels the need to subject us to his poor, sad, drippy little life, he could have at least punched it up a bit or shortened the whole goddamned mess. I was shocked that some of my favorite authors were heaping the praise upon the boy. Amsden is my age, lives close to my place, and it killed me that someone could be on the receiving end of such glorious attributes when I am a suffering, slaving student and waitress who dreams nightly of publishing something, anything. This nearly broke my heart.

My faith in literature, and all contemporary fiction, was restored when I flipped through the New York Press on an endless ride on the W train. There before me was a well-written, engaging and ever so on-target review of Important Things that Don't Matter ("Books," 7/2). How could Amsden not see that he was trying to bring out his pathetic inner Holden Caufield? Thank you, thank you New York Press and all involved for the article. It made my day, my month, and it did a hell of a lot for my ego.

Molly Sullivan, Manhattan

Yup

"Elongate thy foe ("Cage Match," 7/9)?" The most descriptive, shortest, most eloquent term is also the most obvious: "Saddamite."

Sheldon Stone, San Francisco

Policy Matters

The anecdote about Bush and his encounter with a transwoman ("The Gist," 6/25) raises hopes that clash with reality. We're having the same problem here with Republican Gov. Jim Douglas. When confronted regarding his proposals to gut environmental reviews in favor of agency rubber stamps, he cites his personal behavior (driving fuel-efficient cars, hanging out laundry, etc.) as his credentials for environmental friendliness. Likewise, Bush one-on-one may be a personable and decent guy, but personal behavior toward any particular individual has almost nothing to do with the policies he pursues.

Euan Bear, Bakersfield, VT

MUGGER Has a Ball

MUGGER: It's funny, I can imagine you and Araton sitting on a porch (MUGGER, 7/16) somewhere, chewing tobacco, sipping lemonade and remembering a better day.

Huckaby jumped on Jeter as if he were blocking home?but he was blocking third base? and if you were watching that night, well, you know not only the result, but the pain Jeter was in. Suggesting that Jeter is suddenly an asshole based on one incident?and one column by Araton?seems, well, a little Red Soxy to me.

Araton's a fatuous bore. You're not. Get off that porch before it's too late!

Harley Peyton, Los Angeles