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Stephen King, Sarah Jessica Parker and More Share Their Top Books of the 21st Century

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Stephen King, Sarah Jessica Parker and More Share Their Top Books of the 21st Century

Stephen King

Stephen King has written more than 60 books, many of which have been adapted for film and television. His latest is the story collection YOU LIKE IT DARKER.

“Atonement,” by Ian McEwan “Christine Falls,” by Benjamin Black “The Goldfinch,” by Donna Tartt “Gone Girl,” by Gillian Flynn “No Country for Old Men,” by Cormac McCarthy “Oryx and Crake,” by Margaret Atwood “The Paying Guests,” by Sarah Waters “The Plot Against America,” by Philip Roth “The Sympathizer,” by Viet Thanh Nguyen “Under the Dome,” by Stephen King

1 of these, so far, appears on the 100 Best list.
(This page will update throughout the
week.)

Min Jin Lee

Min Jin Lee has written two novels: FREE FOOD FOR MILLIONAIRES and PACHINKO, which was one of The Times’s 10 Best Books of 2017.

“All the Light We Cannot See,” by Anthony Doerr “Behind the Beautiful Forevers,” by Katherine Boo “Brooklyn,” by Colm Tóibín “The Buddha in the Attic,” by Julie Otsuka “Educated,” by Tara Westover “Evicted,” by Matthew Desmond “Gilead,” by Marilynne Robinson “The Known World,” by Edward P. Jones “Nickel and Dimed,” by Barbara Ehrenreich “Redeployment,” by Phil Klay

Karl Ove Knausgaard

Karl Ove Knausgaard is a Norwegian writer and essayist best known for MY STRUGGLE, a series of six autobiographical novels.

“2666,” by Roberto Bolaño “The Argonauts,” by Maggie Nelson “The Days of Abandonment,” by Elena Ferrante “The Flame Alphabet,” by Ben Marcus “The Kingdom,” by Emmanuel Carrère “Never Let Me Go,” by Kazuo Ishiguro “Small Things Like These,” by Claire Keegan “Storm Still,” by Peter Handke “Train Dreams,” by Denis Johnson “Voices from Chernobyl,” by Svetlana Alexievich

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1 of these, so far, appears on the 100 Best list.
(This page will update throughout the
week.)

Bonnie Garmus

Bonnie Garmus is the author of LESSONS IN CHEMISTRY, which was named Barnes & Noble’s book of the year in 2022.

“Between the World and Me,” by Ta-Nehisi Coates “Demon Copperhead,” by Barbara Kingsolver “Educated,” by Tara Westover “Genome,” by Matt Ridley “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince,” by J.K. Rowling “A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius,” by Dave Eggers “Henry David Thoreau,” by Laura Dassow Walls “Pobby and Dingan,” by Ben Rice “The Underground Railroad,” by Colson Whitehead “The Worst Hard Time,” by Timothy Egan

Nana Kwame Adjei‑Brenyah

Nana Kwame Adjei‑Brenyah’s debut novel, CHAIN-GANG ALL-STARS, was one of The Times’s 10 Best Books of 2023.

“Drinking Coffee Elsewhere: Stories,” by ZZ Packer “Ghost Of,” by Diana Khoi Nguyen “Greenwood,” by Michael Christie “Look,” by Solmaz Sharif “Pachinko,” by Min Jin Lee “Pastoralia,” by George Saunders “Sing, Unburied, Sing,” by Jesmyn Ward “Stories of Your Life and Others,” by Ted Chiang “Tenth of December,” by George Saunders “The Underground Railroad,” by Colson Whitehead

1 of these, so far, appears on the 100 Best list.
(This page will update throughout the
week.)

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Junot Díaz

Junot Díaz is an author whose books include THE BRIEF WONDROUS LIFE OF OSCAR WAO, which won the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for fiction.

“Americanah,” by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie “Behind the Beautiful Forevers,” by Katherine Boo “Brother, I’m Dying,” by Edwidge Danticat “Kingdom Animalia,” by Aracelis Girmay “The Known World,” by Edward P. Jones “Out,” by Natsuo Kirino “The Savage Detectives,” by Roberto Bolaño “Say Her Name,” by Francisco Goldman “Stories of Your Life and Others,” by Ted Chiang “Tuff,” by Paul Beatty

Sarah Jessica Parker

Sarah Jessica Parker is an Emmy-winning actress and the founder of Zando’s literary imprint, SJP Lit.

“An American Marriage,” by Tayari Jones “The Bee Sting,” by Paul Murray “A Burning,” by Megha Majumdar “A Constellation of Vital Phenomena,” by Anthony Marra “The Corrections,” by Jonathan Franzen “The Goldfinch,” by Donna Tartt “A History of Burning,” by Janika Oza “The Nickel Boys,” by Colson Whitehead “Say Nothing,” by Patrick Radden Keefe “Wave,” by Sonali Deraniyagala

James Patterson

James Patterson has written more than 200 books across various genres, including collaborations with Bill Clinton and Dolly Parton. His latest books include CONFESSIONS OF THE DEAD, which he wrote with J.D. Barker, and TIGER, TIGER.

“11/22/63,” by Stephen King “The Book Thief,” by Markus Zusak “Educated,” by Tara Westover “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo,” by Stieg Larsson “Gone Girl,” by Gillian Flynn “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire,” by J.K. Rowling “Kitchen Confidential,” by Anthony Bourdain “Life,” by Keith Richards with James Fox “Mystic River,” by Dennis Lehane “Seabiscuit,” by Laura Hillenbrand

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Elin Hilderbrand

Elin Hilderbrand, often referred to as the queen of beach reads, recently announced that SWAN SONG, released in June, would be the last of her Nantucket summer novels.

“Alice & Oliver,” by Charles Bock “American Wife,” by Curtis Sittenfeld “Dirt Music,” by Tim Winton “Euphoria,” by Lily King “Every Last One,” by Anna Quindlen “Fates and Furies,” by Lauren Groff “Hamnet,” by Maggie O’Farrell “Luster,” by Raven Leilani “May We Be Forgiven,” by A.M. Homes “The Night Circus,” by Erin Morgenstern

Annette Gordon‑Reed

Annette Gordon-Reed is a professor at Harvard University whose 2008 history, THE HEMINGSES OF MONTICELLO, won both a Pulitzer Prize and a National Book Award…

… and she also included it on her ballot, telling us,
“I couldn’t help it.”

“Between the World and Me,” by Ta-Nehisi Coates “The Emperor of All Maladies,” by Siddhartha Mukherjee “Gilead,” by Marilynne Robinson “The Hemingses of Monticello,” by Annette Gordon-Reed “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks,” by Rebecca Skloot “The Metaphysical Club,” by Louis Menand “The Plot Against America,” by Philip Roth “The Underground Railroad,” by Colson Whitehead “The Warmth of Other Suns,” by Isabel Wilkerson “Wolf Hall,” by Hilary Mantel

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1 of these, so far, appears on the 100 Best list.
(This page will update throughout the
week.)

Rebecca Roanhorse

Rebecca Roanhorse is a Hugo- and Nebula-winning science fiction and fantasy novelist whose works include BLACK SUN and TRAIL OF LIGHTNING.

“Ancillary Justice,” by Ann Leckie “Exhalation,” by Ted Chiang “The Fifth Season,” by N.K. Jemisin “The Ministry for the Future,” by Kim Stanley Robinson “The Only Good Indians,” by Stephen Graham Jones “The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories,” by Ken Liu “Ring Shout,” by P. Djèlí Clark “The Round House,” by Louise Erdrich “The Saint of Bright Doors,” by Vajra Chandrasekera “Selected Stories,” by Theodore Sturgeon

Marlon James

Marlon James is the author of five novels, including A BRIEF HISTORY OF SEVEN KILLINGS, which won the 2015 Booker Prize.

“2666,” by Roberto Bolaño “As Meat Loves Salt,” by Maria McCann “Evicted,” by Matthew Desmond “The Fifth Season,” by N.K. Jemisin “The Good Lord Bird,” by James McBride “The Line of Beauty,” by Alan Hollinghurst “Pachinko,” by Min Jin Lee “Skippy Dies,” by Paul Murray “Wolf Hall,” by Hilary Mantel “The World Is What It Is,” by Patrick French

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Roxane Gay

Roxane Gay is an editor, essayist and author whose best-selling nonfiction includes BAD FEMINIST and HUNGER. She is also a contributing Opinion writer for The New York Times.

“The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay,” by Michael Chabon “The Brutal Language of Love,” by Alicia Erian “Girl, Woman, Other,” by Bernardine Evaristo “Heavy,” by Kiese Laymon “Her Body and Other Parties,” by Carmen Maria Machado “NW,” by Zadie Smith “Pachinko,” by Min Jin Lee “Room,” by Emma Donoghue “Salvage the Bones,” by Jesmyn Ward “State of Wonder,” by Ann Patchett

Jonathan Lethem

Jonathan Lethem is a writer best known for his 1999 novel MOTHERLESS BROOKLYN.

“Aurora,” by Kim Stanley Robinson “Dear Cyborgs,” by Eugene Lim “The Employees,” by Olga Ravn “Erasure,” by Percival Everett “Hawthorn & Child,” by Keith Ridgway “Houses of Ravicka,” by Renee Gladman “How the Dead Dream,” by Lydia Millet “The Last Samurai,” by Helen DeWitt “Pity the Beast,” by Robin McLean “Trance,” by Christopher Sorrentino

Sarah MacLean

Sarah MacLean is an award-winning romance writer whose most recent novel is KNOCKOUT.

“After Hours on Milagro Street,” by Angelina M. Lopez “Again the Magic,” by Lisa Kleypas “Bet Me,” by Jennifer Crusie “Circe,” by Madeline Miller “Dark Needs at Night’s Edge,” by Kresley Cole “Forbidden,” by Beverly Jenkins “Georgie, All Along,” by Kate Clayborn “Hana Khan Carries On,” by Uzma Jalaluddin “A Heart of Blood and Ashes,” by Milla Vane “Ravishing the Heiress,” by Sherry Thomas

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Ed Yong

Ed Yong is a Pulitzer Prize-winning science journalist and the author of AN IMMENSE WORLD and I CONTAIN MULTITUDES.

“Bel Canto,” by Ann Patchett “Chain-Gang All-Stars,” by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah “A Day in the Life of Abed Salama,” by Nathan Thrall “Exit West,” by Mohsin Hamid “H Is for Hawk,” by Helen Macdonald “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks,” by Rebecca Skloot “Saving Time,” by Jenny Odell “The Swimmers,” by Julie Otsuka “This Is How You Lose the Time War,” by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone “Trust,” by Hernan Diaz

1 of these, so far, appears on the 100 Best list.
(This page will update throughout the
week.)

Thomas Chatterton Williams

Thomas Chatterton Williams, a staff writer at The Atlantic, is the author of LOSING MY COOL and SELF-PORTRAIT IN BLACK AND WHITE.

“All Aunt Hagar’s Children,” by Edward P. Jones “Biography of X,” by Catherine Lacey “Eat the Document,” by Dana Spiotta “Ideas of Heaven: A Ring of Stories,” by Joan Silber “Malcolm X,” by Manning Marable “The Round House,” by Louise Erdrich “Runaway,” by Alice Munro “Stay True,” by Hua Hsu “Veronica,” by Mary Gaitskill “The Warmth of Other Suns,” by Isabel Wilkerson

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Paul Tremblay

Paul Tremblay is an award-winning horror novelist whose latest book is HORROR MOVIE.

“2666,” by Roberto Bolaño “House of Leaves,” by Mark Z. Danielewski “Lady Joker, Vol. 1,” by Kaoru Takamura “The Maniac,” by Benjamín Labatut “Never Let Me Go,” by Kazuo Ishiguro “No Country for Old Men,” by Cormac McCarthy “The Only Good Indians,” by Stephen Graham Jones “Our Share of Night,” by Mariana Enriquez “Treasure Island!!!,” by Sara Levine “The Underground Railroad,” by Colson Whitehead

Nick Hornby

Nick Hornby is best known for comic novels like HIGH FIDELITY and ABOUT A BOY.

“The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay,” by Michael Chabon “Austerity Britain,” by David Kynaston “Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk,” by Ben Fountain “Empire Falls,” by Richard Russo “Gilead,” by Marilynne Robinson “Olive Kitteridge,” by Elizabeth Strout “On Beauty,” by Zadie Smith “Pictures at a Revolution,” by Mark Harris “Random Family,” by Adrian Nicole LeBlanc “Say Nothing,” by Patrick Radden Keefe

1 of these, so far, appears on the 100 Best list.
(This page will update throughout the
week.)

Scott Turow

Scott Turow is an attorney and writer best known for legal thrillers like PRESUMED INNOCENT and THE BURDEN OF PROOF.

“Bel Canto,” by Ann Patchett “Dreamland,” by Sam Quinones “The Good Lord Bird,” by James McBride “My Brilliant Friend,” by Elena Ferrante. Translated by Ann Goldstein. “On Tyranny,” by Timothy Snyder “The Orphan Master’s Son,” by Adam Johnson “The Story of a New Name,” by Elena Ferrante. Translated by Ann Goldstein “The Story of the Lost Child,” by Elena Ferrante. Translated by Ann Goldstein “Thinking, Fast and Slow,” by Daniel Kahneman “Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay,” by Elena Ferrante. Translated by Ann Goldstein

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1 of these, so far, appears on the 100 Best list.
(This page will update throughout the
week.)

Daniel Alarcón

Daniel Alarcón is a novelist (LOST CITY RADIO) and contributing writer at The New Yorker whose long-running Spanish-language podcast, Radio Ambulante, is distributed by NPR.

“The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao,” by Junot Díaz “Citizen,” by Claudia Rankine “Exit West,” by Mohsin Hamid “The Known World,” by Edward P. Jones “Lincoln in the Bardo,” by George Saunders “My Brilliant Friend,” by Elena Ferrante. Translated by Ann Goldstein. “NW,” by Zadie Smith “Random Family,” by Adrian Nicole LeBlanc “The Savage Detectives,” by Roberto Bolaño “Say Nothing,” by Patrick Radden Keefe

Honorée Fanonne Jeffers

Honorée Fanonne Jeffers is a poet and professor of English at the University of Oklahoma. Her debut novel, THE LOVE SONGS OF W.E.B. DU BOIS, was one of The Times’s 10 Best Books of 2021.

“Brother, I’m Dying,” by Edwidge Danticat “Built from the Fire,” by Victor Luckerson “Feminism Is For Everybody,” by bell hooks “Gathering Blossoms,” by Alice Walker “The Known World,” by Edward P. Jones “A Mercy,” by Toni Morrison “The Source of Self-Regard,” by Toni Morrison “Stamped from the Beginning,” by Ibram X. Kendi “Ties that Bind,” by Tiya Miles “The Warmth of Other Suns,” by Isabel Wilkerson

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Lucy Sante

Lucy Sante is a writer whose last book, I HEARD HER CALL MY NAME, is a memoir of her gender transition.

“Anniversaries,” by Uwe Johnson. Translated by Damion Searls “Feral City,” by Jeremiah Moss “The Friend,” by Sigrid Nunez “It Gets Me Home, This Curving Track,” by Ian Penman “Jacket Weather,” by Mike DeCapite “The Mars Room,” by Rachel Kushner “Same Bed Different Dreams,” by Ed Park “The Savage Detectives,” by Roberto Bolaño “Stay True,” by Hua Hsu “Voices from Chernobyl,” by Svetlana Alexievich

Gary Shteyngart

Gary Shteyngart has written five novels, one of which, ABSURDISTAN, was named one of The Times’s 10 Best Books of 2006.

“Bangkok Wakes to Rain,” by Pitchaya Sudbanthad “The Collected Stories of Amy Hempel,” by Amy Hempel “Educated,” by Tara Westover “Exit West,” by Mohsin Hamid “The Master,” by Colm Tóibín “Netherland,” by Joseph O’Neill “Outline,” by Rachel Cusk “Postwar,” by Tony Judt “Veronica,” by Mary Gaitskill “The Warmth of Other Suns,” by Isabel Wilkerson

Anand Giridharadas

Anand Giridharadas is a writer and former foreign correspondent whose books include THE PERSUADERS and WINNERS TAKE ALL.

“The Argonauts,” by Maggie Nelson “Behind the Beautiful Forevers,” by Katherine Boo “Dark Money,” by Jane Mayer “Far From the Tree,” by Andrew Solomon “A Little Life,” by Hanya Yanagihara “Maximum City,” by Suketu Mehta “My Struggle: Book 2,” by Karl Ove Knausgaard “One of Us,” by Asne Seierstad “Random Family,” by Adrian Nicole LeBlanc “The Year of Magical Thinking,” by Joan Didion

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Jessamine Chan

Jessamine Chan’s debut novel, THE SCHOOL FOR GOOD MOTHERS, was named by Barack Obama as one of his favorite books of 2022.

“Chain-Gang All-Stars,” by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah “Cinema Love,” by Jiaming Tang “Easy Beauty,” by Chloé Cooper Jones “Invisible Child,” by Andrea Elliott “Kairos,” by Jenny Erpenbeck “Matrix,” by Lauren Groff “Minor Feelings,” by Cathy Park Hong “Never Let Me Go,” by Kazuo Ishiguro “Pure Colour,” by Sheila Heti “Torn Apart,” by Dorothy Roberts

Michael Robbins

Michael Robbins is the author of several poetry collections, including WALKMAN and THE SECOND SEX.

“Alien vs. Predator,” by Michael Robbins “Communal Luxury,” by Kristin Ross “Cruel Optimism,” by Lauren Berlant “Fossil Capital,” by Andreas Malm “Keats’s Odes,” by Anahid Nersessian “Lila,” by Marilynne Robinson “Planet of Slums,” by Mike Davis “Poemland,” by Chelsey Minnis “Stolen Life,” by Fred Moten “Veronica,” by Mary Gaitskill

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Alma Katsu

Alma Katsu is a genre-spanning writer whose books include RED WIDOW and THE HUNGER.

“Gone Girl,” by Gillian Flynn “Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell,” by Susanna Clarke “Lincoln in the Bardo,” by George Saunders “The Little Friend,” by Donna Tartt “The Little Stranger,” by Sarah Waters “Never Let Me Go,” by Kazuo Ishiguro “The Only Good Indians,” by Stephen Graham Jones “The Swimmers,” by Julie Otsuka “The Time Traveler’s Wife,” by Audrey Niffenegger “Wolf Hall,” by Hilary Mantel

Megan Abbott

Megan Abbott is the Edgar-winning author of 11 novels, including DARE ME, THE TURNOUT and BEWARE THE WOMAN.

“Blonde,” by Joyce Carol Oates “Gone Girl,” by Gillian Flynn “Life After Life,” by Kate Atkinson “A Little Life,” by Hanya Yanagihara “Lost Girls,” by Robert Kolker “My Sister, the Serial Killer,” by Oyinkan Braithwaite “Nemesis,” by Philip Roth “Random Family,” by Adrian Nicole LeBlanc “Winter’s Bone,” by Daniel Woodrell “The Year of Magical Thinking,” by Joan Didion

Joshua Ferris

Joshua Ferris has written five novels, including THEN WE CAME TO THE END, which won the 2008 PEN/Hemingway Award.

“The Corrections,” by Jonathan Franzen “The Gathering,” by Anne Enright “Gilead,” by Marilynne Robinson “The Known World,” by Edward P. Jones “No Country for Old Men,” by Cormac McCarthy “No One Is Talking About This,” by Patricia Lockwood “NW,” by Zadie Smith “The Savage Detectives,” by Roberto Bolaño “Tinkers,” by Paul Harding “Wolf Hall,” by Hilary Mantel

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Ann Napolitano

Ann Napolitano is a novelist whose last book, HELLO BEAUTIFUL, was the 100th pick of Oprah’s Book Club.

“Americanah,” by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie “The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao,” by Junot Díaz “Cloud Atlas,” by David Mitchell “Demon Copperhead,” by Barbara Kingsolver “Far From the Tree,” by Andrew Solomon “Homegoing,” by Yaa Gyasi “The Master,” by Colm Tóibín “Station Eleven,” by Emily St. John Mandel “The Underground Railroad,” by Colson Whitehead “Wolf Hall,” by Hilary Mantel

1 of these, so far, appears on the 100 Best list.
(This page will update throughout the
week.)

John Irving

John Irving is the author of THE WORLD ACCORDING TO GARP, THE CIDER HOUSE RULES and A PRAYER FOR OWEN MEANY, among other novels.

“The Absolutist,” by John Boyne “Burma Sahib,” by Paul Theroux “Cutting for Stone,” by Abraham Verghese “Last Night,” by James Salter “The Nix,” by Nathan Hill “Peeling the Onion,” by Günter Grass “A Saint from Texas,” by Edmund White “Shadow Country,” by Peter Matthiessen “Warlight,” by Michael Ondaatje “Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal?,” by Jeanette Winterson

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Tiya Miles

Tiya Miles is a professor of history at Harvard University whose books include ALL THAT SHE CARRIED, which won the 2021 National Book Award for nonfiction, and the just-published NIGHT FLYER.

“Frederick Douglass,” by David W. Blight “The Hemingses of Monticello,” by Annette Gordon-Reed “Less,” by Andrew Sean Greer “The Omnivore’s Dilemma,” by Michael Pollan “People Love Dead Jews,” by Dara Horn “The Round House,” by Louise Erdrich “Salvage the Bones,” by Jesmyn Ward “The Swerve,” by Stephen Greenblatt “The Underground Railroad,” by Colson Whitehead

1 of these, so far, appears on the 100 Best list.
(This page will update throughout the
week.)

Jami Attenberg

Jami Attenberg is a writer whose new novel, A REASON TO SEE YOU AGAIN, comes out in September.

“Bright Dead Things,” by Ada Limón “The Corrections,” by Jonathan Franzen “Fun Home,” by Alison Bechdel “Grief Is For People,” by Sloane Crosley “Heavy,” by Kiese Laymon “How to Write an Autobiographical Novel,” by Alexander Chee “Just Kids,” by Patti Smith “Pachinko,” by Min Jin Lee “There Are More Beautiful Things Than Beyoncé,” by Morgan Parker “True Biz,” by Sara Novic

Stephen L. Carter

Stephen L. Carter, a professor at Yale Law School, has written critically acclaimed nonfiction as well as six novels, including THE EMPEROR OF OCEAN PARK.

“Bourgeois Dignity,” by Deirdre McCloskey “Exit West,” by Mohsin Hamid “The Fabric of Civilization,” by Virginia Postrel “The Human Stain,” by Philip Roth “Inventing The Enemy,” by Umberto Eco “March,” by Geraldine Brooks “The Overstory,” by Richard Powers “Silence,” by Jane Brox “That All Shall Be Saved,” by David Bentley Hart “What It Means When a Man Falls from the Sky,” by Lesley Nneka Arimah

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1 of these, so far, appears on the 100 Best list.
(This page will update throughout the
week.)

Sarah Schulman

Sarah Schulman is a novelist, playwright and nonfiction writer whose most recent book is LET THE RECORD SHOW.

“Citizen,” by Claudia Rankine “The Freezer Door,” by Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore “Memorial Drive,” by Natasha Trethewey “Minor Detail,” by Adania Shibli “The Rediscovery of America,” by Ned Blackhawk “They Were Her Property,” by Stephanie E. Jones-Rogers “Vanguard,” by Martha S. Jones “The Viral Underclass,” by Steven W. Thrasher “We Could Have Been Friends, My Father and I,” by Raja Shehadeh “The Women’s House of Detention,” by Hugh Ryan

Elizabeth Hand

Elizabeth Hand is the author of 20 novels, most recently A HAUNTING ON THE HILL.

“The Enchanted,” by Rene Denfeld “Henry Darger,” by John M. MacGregor “Ill Will,” by Dan Chaon “James Tiptree Jr.,” by Julie Phillips “Just Kids,” by Patti Smith “The Little Stranger,” by Sarah Waters “Magic for Beginners,” by Kelly Link “Night of the Living Rez,” by Morgan Talty “The Old Ways,” by Robert Macfarlane “Pattern Recognition,” by William Gibson

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Dion Graham

Dion Graham is an actor whose award-winning audiobook narrations include Jonathan Eig’s KING and Colson Whitehead’s CROOK MANIFESTO.

“American War,” by Omar El Akkad “Black Leopard, Red Wolf,” by Marlon James “Chasing Me to My Grave,” by Winfred Rembert “The Dark Forest,” by Cixin Liu “Evicted,” by Matthew Desmond “A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius,” by Dave Eggers “His Name Is George Floyd,” by Robert Samuels and Toluse Olorunnipa “King: A Life,” by Jonathan Eig “Washington Black,” by Esi Edugyan

Jeremy Denk

Jeremy Denk is a classical pianist and the recipient of a MacArthur Foundation “genius grant.” His memoir, EVERY GOOD BOY DOES FINE, was published in 2022.

“Austerlitz,” by W.G. Sebald “Consider the Lobster,” by David Foster Wallace “Jeff in Venice, Death in Varanasi,” by Geoff Dyer “A Little Devil in America,” by Hanif Abdurraqib “Luster,” by Raven Leilani “The Possessed,” by Elif Batuman “Random Family,” by Adrian Nicole LeBlanc “The Rest Is Noise,” by Alex Ross “Runaway,” by Alice Munro “Sound Within Sound,” by Kate Molleson

Morgan Jerkins

Morgan Jerkins is a journalist, editor and the author of several books, including THIS WILL BE MY UNDOING.

“Barracoon,” by Zora Neale Hurston “Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage,” by Haruki Murakami “Erasure,” by Percival Everett “The Future Is History,” by Masha Gessen “Girl, Woman, Other,” by Bernardine Evaristo “How to Say Babylon,” by Safiya Sinclair “In the Dream House,” by Carmen Maria Machado “Looking for Lorraine,” by Imani Perry “Sing, Unburied, Sing,” by Jesmyn Ward

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Michael Roth

Michael Roth is the president of Wesleyan University.

“The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay,” by Michael Chabon “The Argonauts,” by Maggie Nelson “In Love,” by Amy Bloom “Lose Your Mother,” by Saidiya Hartman “Lost Children Archive,” by Valeria Luiselli “On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous,” by Ocean Vuong “Septology,” by Jon Fosse. Translated by Damion Searls “Thinking, Fast and Slow,” by Daniel Kahneman “The Topeka School,” by Ben Lerner “A Visit From the Goon Squad,” by Jennifer Egan

Ryan Holiday

Ryan Holiday is the author of 12 books, including RIGHT THING, RIGHT NOW and THE DAILY STOIC, and co-owns a bookstore in Bastrop, Texas.

“Caste,” by Isabel Wilkerson “The Choice,” by Edith Eger “Deep Work,” by Cal Newport “How the Word Is Passed,” by Clint Smith “Mastery,” by Robert Greene “The River of Doubt,” by Candice Millard “The Road,” by Cormac McCarthy “So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed,” by Jon Ronson “The Tiger,” by John Vaillant “Tunnel 29,” by Helena Merriman

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Culture

How the Las Vegas Aces guards came to life to stave off elimination

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How the Las Vegas Aces guards came to life to stave off elimination

LAS VEGAS — Becky Hammon has said all season that she has been waiting for the game when all of her Las Vegas guards click on all cylinders.

In 2023, the three-headed monster of Chelsea Gray, Jackie Young and Kelsey Plum was an unstoppable unit most nights, culminating in a WNBA Finals series when the perimeter trio convincingly outplayed its New York Liberty counterparts, even without Gray in the closeout win.

Fast forward a season, and Las Vegas has been mixing and matching. Despite the addition of Tiffany Hayes to an already talented guard group, the Aces have been lucky to get two of their quartet to pop off in any given game. If Young is scoring well, that often portends an off night for Plum, as was the case in Game 2 of the WNBA semifinals series against the Liberty when she notched 17 points and 6 points, respectively. Plum was on her A-game in the series opener with 24 points, but then Gray stumbled to four points and one assist in the loss.

“We’ve had two on a night have good nights,” Hammon said. “A’ja (Wilson has) been ridiculous, is ridiculous, she will continue to be ridiculous. But then after that, it’s all those other little pieces.”

On Friday, Hammon was finally dealt her long-awaited hand with four Aces delivering peak performances. Five players scored double digits in Friday night’s 95-81 Aces’ victory to stave off elimination and ensure Game 4 on Sunday to keep their three-peat championship quest alive.

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“Everything was just on point really with everybody,” Hammon said. “I thought that was probably our most complete game of the season. It’s the game I’ve been waiting for and believing in.”

The effort for the Las Vegas guard group started on defense. Liberty star Sabrina Ionescu had been the best perimeter player in the series, dicing up the Aces’ pick-and-roll coverages and scoring at will from all levels in addition to setting up her teammates for open shots.

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Hammon said after Game 2 that she wanted to get to a C-plus effort defending Ionescu because the defense hadn’t even been average in the first two games at Barclays Center. What that meant was simplifying the scheme and making it exceedingly clear what the principles were on Ionescu and which Liberty players to help off of.

Ionescu broke free of the defense on a couple occasions in the first quarter to get to her floater, but she wasn’t able to convert. Once the Aces tightened up coverages, Ionescu was repeatedly trapped far from the basket, unable to turn the corner or find outlets in the half court. She had as many assists as turnovers (five) and submitted the lowest-scoring playoff output of her career with four points on 1-of-7 shooting.

Hammon’s grade Friday? A-plus, no notes.

“She’s been playing great, so of course, they want to make it hard for her,” Liberty coach Sandy Brondello said. “They put her in action down the other end, they were being really aggressive in the pick-and-rolls this time. She wasn’t able to get downhill. It was more of a hard hedge and very active with their hands getting deflections.”

Without Ionescu running the show, the Liberty devolved into isolation basketball, a style of play incongruous with the movement and screening that defined them during the regular season, when they had the league’s best record.

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Meanwhile, the Aces’ defense propelled them into the offensive rhythm that was lacking earlier in the series.

“We always say our defense drives our offense,” Hayes said. “We know that we thrive on the defensive end, and even though we’re a little bit smaller, we got some dogs out there, and we’re able to get a lot done.”

New York’s starting perimeter trio of Ionescu, Leonie Fiebich and Betnijah Laney-Hamilton combined for 21 points. Young exceeded that on her own with 24. Plum added 20, Gray chipped in 10, and Hayes provided 11 off the bench.

Their collective might was on full display during a game-defining 16-0 run in the third quarter, as the Aces extended a four-point lead to 20. Plum got things started with a drive to the hoop off the dribble, then found Gray for the next score in early offense on a trailing 3-pointer. Gray followed that with a beautiful lob over the top to Wilson as Breanna Stewart fronted her in the post to push the lead to double digits.

Then it was Hayes’ turn. She faked left and drove to her weak hand, leaving Nyara Sabally in the dust. Plum had a 3-pointer off an offensive rebound, hit a technical free throw, and then added another 3-pointer off a drive-and-kick from Hayes. Fourteen points and three assists came from the guard group, while the Liberty missed nine shots and committed seven turnovers in that stretch.

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“I think our attention to detail defensively was super sharp,” Gray said. “They’re a good team but you want to make them take tough looks, and it was the same with Sabrina. We were just attentive to detail coming off the pick-and-roll, making sure she’s not comfortable. And it all starts in the defensive end so we can flow into our offense a little bit better.”

The Aces know that their advantage has to come in the backcourt, given the Liberty have two frontcourt MVPs in Stewart and Jonquel Jones. Wilson’s excellence is consistent, but the perimeter has been the separating factor during the last two title runs.

Wilson was confident that the desperation of the situation would bring out the best in her teammates. “One thing I know for sure is that sometimes when our backs are against the wall, that’s when we really break loose and shine the brightest,” she said.

A 14-point victory that was more lopsided than the margin would suggest, validating Wilson’s belief. The Aces finally executed defensively and set the tone. Their pace was infectious on offense, involving their guard quartet for the first time this season, enabling Las Vegas to play at least one more game and remain in pursuit of a three-peat.

“We’re the Aces,” Hammon said. “We’re not going to fold.”

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(Photo, from left, of Chelsea Gray, Jonquel Jones and Kelsey Plum: Ethan Miller / Getty Images)

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What to know about college football’s new helmet communication rules

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What to know about college football’s new helmet communication rules

Consider it a high-stakes game of telephone.

You may have noticed the uptick of college football quarterbacks cupping their helmets to muffle the sounds of the loudest stadiums in the country. That’s because coach-to-player helmet communication arrived this season for all 134 Football Bowl Subdivision programs.

Thirty years after the NFL debuted the technology, the NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Panel approved the use of helmet communication (as well as sideline tablets) for FBS teams in April, following a trial period in last season’s bowl games.

Here’s how it works.

Who has access to helmet communication, and how does it work?

One player on the field for each team — one on offense and one on defense — can have helmet communication. On offense, that player is typically the quarterback.

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The designated player is identified by a green dot on the back of his helmet, just like the NFL. If more than one green dot per team is detected on the field by the officials, the team will be penalized with a 5-yard equipment violation penalty, automatically initiating a conference review, per the NCAA.

The conference review would examine whether teams intentionally allowed a second green-dot helmet in the game at the same time. The review would occur in the days following the game and any additional discipline would be up to the conference, an NCAA source with knowledge of the review process said.

On the sideline, each team is limited to three coach-to-player caller radios and belt packs. Presumably, teams allocate those to the head coach, offensive coordinator and defensive coordinator.

Coach-to-player helmet communication shuts off at the 15-second mark on the play clock or when the ball is snapped, whichever happens first, and remains off throughout the down. When the play clock is reset to 25 or 40 seconds, the communications are restored. (The play clock is set to 25 seconds after a penalty, charged team timeout, media timeout or injury timeout for an offensive player and to 40 seconds after a play ends or after an injury timeout for a defensive player.)

The cutoff operator is hired, assigned and managed by each conference.

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On free-kick plays, the coach-to-player communication is not in effect.

Each team can use a maximum of 23 regular headsets within the team area, coaches’ box or coaches’ booth. Any team personnel can wear one, and two additional headsets are used by technicians to monitor the system and address any technical issues.

Is coach-to-player helmet communication mandatory?


USC coach Lincoln Riley reviews a tablet on the sideline against LSU on Sept. 1 at Allegiant Stadium. (Photo: Ric Tapia / Getty Images)

No. The technology is optional, as is using tablets to view in-game video — including broadcast feeds, All-22 sideline and end zone angles.

A team can use helmet communication even if its opponent does not. If a team opts not to use or fully rely on the technology, a coach can communicate with the QB through the traditional methods of sideline signs and hand signals.

If one team’s communication stops working, however, the opposing team must also cease use of its helmet comms.

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What happens when an FBS team plays an FCS team?

Helmet communication is not permitted at the Football Championship Subdivision level, but FCS teams can use the technology when playing an FBS opponent.

North Dakota State did so when it opened its season against Colorado in Week 1. Bison offensive coordinator Jake Landry said in August the single-game adjustment would still be “a learning curve” for the team, which fell to the Buffaloes 31-26.

“How much is too much information?” Landry said, according to 247Sports. “How much do you want to know? What little tidbits can we provide?”

Important ones, according to Georgia quarterback Carson Beck.

This offseason, Georgia’s QB1 said he “loves” that offensive coordinator Mike Bobo can talk into his ear “because there’s maybe like a little cue that he might say for a play, like look out for this coverage or look out for this, if they do this, do this — just like little things.”

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Advantages vs. disadvantages


Michigan staffers on the sideline of last year’s championship game. College teams have long used signs — some unorthodox — to communicate plays to the team on the field. (Photo: Carmen Mandato / Getty Images)

A coach can do more than tell his QB which play to run. Helmet comms can also be used for bigger-picture reminders of time, down and situation and when it’s time to take a risk or play it safe.

Another big advantage is what it could help minimize — sign stealing.

Using electronic equipment to record, or “steal,” opponents’ signs is not legal in college football. The NCAA also prohibits off-campus, in-person scouting of future opponents during the same season. An alleged scheme at Michigan concerning the latter led to an NCAA investigation this past year.

But on-field, in-person sign stealing is allowed. Former Michigan QB J.J. McCarthy estimated “80 percent” of college football teams steal signs, “which is legal,” he said in January.

go-deeper

GO DEEPER

‘That’s as big as it gets’: How much does knowing an opponent’s signals matter?

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Teams haven’t stopped using sideline signals. But move some of that communication to the helmet, and you can take away — or at least, reduce — the interception of it, right?

“Sign-stealing happens every game,” Nebraska coach Matt Rhule said in March. “There’s nothing wrong with teams looking over trying to steal our signs. There’s nothing wrong with us trying to look at their signs. That’s why you should have mics in the helmets.”

The enemy of coach-to-player helmet communication is, ironically, noise. College games “just have a tendency” to be louder than NFL games, said Rhule, who coached the Carolina Panthers from 2020 to 2022.

“In general, how loud (the fans) can be in a stadium really impacts the game,” Rhule told reporters following Nebraska’s Week 1 win over UTEP.  “It’s not just, ‘It’s third down, let’s try to make them jump offsides’ anymore, it’s ‘Make it really hard for them to hear the play calls and the checks,’ because it was hard for us at times.”

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While helmet communication is helpful, it is imperfect. Auburn coach Hugh Freeze said the team is preparing for alternate solutions as it heads to a hostile road environment in Georgia on Saturday. The Tigers played their first five games of the season at home.

“We’re making it loud at practice for them to have difficult time communicating and see how they handle that,” Freeze said, according to AL.com. “Having alternative plans of how we are going to do play calling, or whatever it takes to try to make sure our kids at least have a good understanding of what’s fixing to go on.”

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(Photo: James Black / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

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Jared Allen: The Minnesota Vikings great aiming for an Olympics Curling spot

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Jared Allen: The Minnesota Vikings great aiming for an Olympics Curling spot

Ever hear the one about the daredevil plasterer who lit an Olympic flame in a four-time first-team All-Pro defensive end?

Jared Allen roars at the mention of Eddie ‘The Eagle’ Edwards, the face of the 1988 Winter Games and embodiment of Pierre de Coubertin’s mantra. The beaming, bespectacled British ski jumper finished last in the 70m and 90m events in Calgary but won hearts and minds the world over.

After 136 sacks in 12 NFL seasons, a happily retired Allen and an old friend watched the feelgood 2016 biopic that celebrates the life and times of Michael David Edwards. It had consequences.

“Yeah! Eddie the Eagle! Great movie,” Allen tells The Athletic on the telephone from Nashville. “That’s what inspired me to make a bet with my buddy to try to make the Olympics!

“Eddie the Eagle had to work his butt off to qualify and become a ski jumper, which was the inspirational side of it. But the point I loved about it was like, ‘Oh, yeah, I just need to go find a sport that’s not on the books that we don’t really do well at and go join that’,” says Allen, bursting into laughter.

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And what of the bet?


Allen said he was inspired by Eddie The Eagle (Mike Powell/Allsport via Getty Images)

“The number was pointless. My buddy threw a number out. I was like, ‘Sure, whatever’. Yes, it was over beers… It’s more just a gentleman’s bet. But nobody wants to welch on a bet! I don’t want to have to tell him he was right — I want him to have to eat crow and tell me that I was right!”

So Allen got to work. In 2018, he formed the All-Pro Curling Team with three former NFL players — quarterback Marc Bulger, linebacker Keith Bulluck and offensive tackle Michael Roos — and set his sights on Beijing.

“I started off as skip, no one had curled ever — we were four football players. Life took off and I ended up joining some other teams. I had no ego, so I ended up playing lead and playing pretty good at lead and sweeping pretty good. So that’s kind of where I found my spot. I really like playing second — I think second is a fun position. But wherever they tell me they need me is where I’ll fit in.”

While he didn’t make the 2022 Games, Allen has had some minor miracles on ice.

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“I beat (John) Shuster two years ago at the nationals in Denver, we beat a team last year that were top 30 in the world, we had some success over in Switzerland and Canada, I’ve got to play some really tough teams, and it’s been a fun deal.”

But brace yourselves. Just as the Milan-Cortina Winter Games loom into view, here comes the plot twist.

“I’ll probably not play this year,” Allen, 42, says. “My team kind of broke up. One guy in my team retired. Another guy has moved on. And then I actually got invited to play with Korey Dropkin as his alternate this year, but USA Curling and the USOPC put the kibosh on it, saying I didn’t have a good enough curling resume.

“Their exact words. We won nationals and all the trials, but they have replaced me as the alternate.

“And then they changed our rules — we used to have a two-year point run-up for Olympic trial qualification and now they’re taking the top three point-earners for the year based on their year to date, and then they’re doing a one tournament play-in.”

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Does that mean that the Olympic dream is… over?


Allen playing in London (Michael Steele/Getty Images)

“No! No! I’ve still got time. I still love curling, I’m still gonna practise, we’ll figure it out,” Allen says. “A lot of people aren’t playing this year. Unless you can go to the Slams, Shuster, Dropkin, and (Danny) Casper pretty much already have the top three spots locked up.

“Everybody is like, ‘Why are we going to travel, waste our time on these tournaments that mean nothing for us over the next year and a half?’. So everybody’s trying to just practise for the next year, put a team together for The Challenger and try to win the play-in.”

Should Allen win his wager, it would represent another tale to tell for one of the NFL’s biggest personalities of the 21st century.

Drafted by Kansas City in 2004, Allen was traded to Minnesota four years later as the then highest-paid defensive player.

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The 2009 Vikings are one of the NFL’s great nearly teams, with quarterback Brett Favre steering them to the NFC Championship in the Superdome. There, they were beaten by themselves (six fumbles, three lost, two interceptions and 12 men in the huddle in the fourth quarter to knock them out of field goal range) and the New Orleans Saints, who were later punished for the Bountygate scandal.

“If we beat the Saints and we go out and win the Super Bowl, our 2009 season arguably goes down as one of the best seasons in NFL history,” Allen says. “Unfortunately, we didn’t make it to the Super Bowl because we lost that controversial game.”

Allen headed to the Chicago Bears in 2014 and was traded to the Carolina Panthers in September 2015 for a last hurrah. The 15-1 Panthers almost went all the way, losing Super Bowl 50 against the Denver Broncos.

“It was a blast. It’s one of those surreal moments. I tell people it was my least productive statistical year of my career — I was dealing with injury and all sorts of stuff — but it was the most successful of my career because the goal is to get the Super Bowl.”

Jared Allen

Allen after setting the Vikings franchise single-season sack record (Adam Bettcher/Getty Images)

Allen’s is a career worthy of Canton (he has been a finalist for the past four years). He led the league twice in sacks (2007 and 2011), the second seeing a tally of 22, making Michael Strahan sweat about losing his all-time record (22.5).

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The highlight reel moments are many. They include his one-handed sack of Eli Manning and the tete-a-tete with Donald Penn. And then there’s his contribution to one of the most infamous plays in NFL history. You know the one.

It was 2008 and while playing for the winless Detroit Lions, quarterback Dan Orlovsky stepped out of bounds in the Metrodome for a safety. Orlovsky — now a stellar ESPN analyst — can look back and laugh. Allen is chuckling at it still.

“I wish he wouldn’t have ran out the back — I could have actually hit him! It was my sack. I was actually laughing because Kevin Williams had like four sacks that game, so I was trying to catch up to him. He was pissed. We were in a tight sack race that year. I got a cheapo. I got a freebie!

“To my credit, I did whoop the tight end. I was wide open! Could have throttled him. It was a good job they called a safety,” Allen says.

Johnny Knoxville was not so lucky. As the wider public embraced Allen with his signature mullet and everyman appeal, in 2010 he was invited to California to film a segment called The Blindside for Jackass 3.

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“That was a fun deal. Knoxville is a great guy — I still talk to Johnny. I actually found out later I separated his sternum when I tackled him from behind.

“We filmed the run where he catches the ball over the middle a few times. He’s like, ‘Man, come on!’ Like, well, if you want to see what I actually do, let’s drop back for a pass and I’ll hit you from behind. So we did that. There was only one take on that one!”

Allen, who returns to England for the first time since the Vikings beat Pittsburgh at Wembley in 2013, will be inducted into the London Ring of Honor during Sunday’s game between the New York Jets and Minnesota.

He likes what he has seen so far this season from his former team.

“They’re aggressive. What’s most impressive is they are getting what they need to get out of their new acquisitions, who are already making massive impacts. That’s what you like to see when you pick up free agents.

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“Hats off to the coaching staff for getting the players that fit their system and creating a system and an environment that they can be successful in.”

And he may well come face-to-face with a familiar foe. It will be almost exactly 15 years ago to the day that Favre and the Vikings beat the Packers on Monday Night Football. Allen had a career-high 4.5 sacks against Aaron Rodgers in a raucous Metrodome. “That was a great day,” he says. “Goodness. Time flies. Whenever I see Aaron it’s very cordial!”

But first, he wants to find some decent grub. “My wife and kids are coming, so I want to show them some of the sights. I want to find some good pubs, have a couple of pints and some bangers and mash.”

Who knows, perhaps he’ll bump into Eddie the Eagle.

(Top photo: David Berding/Getty Images)

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