The Continued Annoyance Of Smart People

What is it about boxing that makes academic and political types all weak in the knees? We think it's because you have to, you know, be a man to be a boxer. Overeducated wonks envy boxing because they work their way up the chain through their pals, their daddies, their fraternity brothers. The man-to-man combat is something they have never done, something they could never handle, and therefore they opine breathlessly about it, wishing desperately to be a part of it while secretly shaking in their overpriced loafers.

The New Yorker's David Remnick — as author of the Muhammad Ali biography "King Of The World," no stranger to the sour science — weighs in this week on the apparent end of Mike Tyson's career. He uses words like "parlous," "Raskolnikov" and "simulacra." The "Talk of the Town" piece is meant to be a sad elegy to Iron Mike, though one gets the impression that if Remnick saw Tyson coming toward him on the street, he'd dial 9 and 1 on his Blackberry, and then be very, very ready.

Tyson's Corner [New Yorker]