The Finals are Set: Battle of the Reviews!

categories: Cocktail Hour

146 comments


The Finals are set: The Georgia Review vs. The Paris Review The voting has been extended to midnight Monday April9th.   Please vote for the finals in the comments section on this page.  You don’t have to be as witty as last time.  (We expect a much lower scoring game.)

Our scoring system is simple.  Each vote equals 2 points.  No 3-pointers.

Semis recaps: 

Despite Ecotone’s overwhelming homecourt advantage, the Georgia Review proved unstoppable.  After making it a game with a late rally, Ecotone’s Cinderella season came to an end, buried under a barrage of Georgia threes.

In the other bracket, The Paris Review steamrolled into the finals.  There is some arrogance in tradition (many voters, for instance, put the word “duh” after their votes for TPR), but in this case the arrogance was well-founded.  A classic performance that hints at a continued dynasty.

For lovers of the Paris Review (and as we have discovered, they are legion), we have a special treat planned for later next week.  It turns out that the staff archivist here at Bill and Dave’s has unearthed some rare footage of the time, previously known only through myth and rumor, when Paris Review Founding editor George Plimpton played Ecotone Founding Editor David Gessner in a game of one-on-one.  Say tuned!

Also, please read Bill’s Memories of the Sweet Sixteen.…such a close call for Tin House….

* * *

Finally, in fairness to the Oxford American, which is one of my favorite mags, both TGR and TPR rallied their fans on blogs.

In their post, The Paris Review wrote:

Dear readers,

This is a matter of honor. If you love and believe in The Paris Review, now is the time to show what our fans are made of. We are currently in the Final Four of the Bill and Dave’s Cocktail Hour Tournament of Literary Magazines.

Meanwhile in the AthensPatch, Rebecca McCarthy wrote:

Listen up, Bulldog Nation:

Turns out the University of Georgia does have a contender in the Final Four after all.

The Final Four of Literary Magazines.

Yep, under the boards, the Georgia Review has ruled, bruising and battering opponents right and left. If you’ve ever seen editor Stephen Corey crush a treadmill at the Athens YMCA, you’ve seen raw power.

The Final Four is held by Bill and Dave’s Cocktail Hour, an online site about all things literary, large and small. You have to comment on why the Georgia Review rocks in order to have your vote count.

So, you might ask, who is the Review facing?

A puny weakling. A nothing, we hope. Who is it? North Carolina-based Ecotones, unfortunately rumored to have a staff member who can pump in the commas as fast as Jeremy Lin can hit three-pointers.

The other contenders are The Paris Review and another Southern literary magazine, the risen-from-the-grave Oxford American.

Don’t worry. The Review can handle them.

Go, Dawgs!



  1. Tyler writes:
  2. William Miller writes:
  3. Jean writes:

    Rally ’round Southerners and proclaim your love for the Georgia Review — let’s prove we know how to read and write…..and edit!

  4. Rebecca McCarthy writes:

    The Georgia Review is an outside shooting team, with the Big Man, Stephen “the crusher” Corey going to the boards as much as Faulkner went to the liquor cabinet.

    The “Paris” Review? Why the faux name, boys?

    We blow our noses in your general direction.

    Go, Georgia Review! Got to have the Mo to Get the O!

  5. Shayla writes:

    The Georgia Review!

  6. Deb Chasteen writes:

    The laurels go to Georgia Review.

  7. Janet Sikes writes:

    Georgia Review

  8. Nicholas Allen writes:

    Georgia Review please!

  9. Erin New writes:

    Georgia Review

  10. Freeman writes:

    GRANTA is the BEST and has a wider circulation than both of these wannabies.

  11. Orhan Ahmad writes:

    The Georgia Review

  12. Patti Gary writes:

    Georgia Review for sure

  13. Edgar Ornelas writes:

    The Paris Review!

  14. BN writes:
  15. juliandelacruz writes:
  16. bernardo writes:

    THE PARIS REVIEW again and again

  17. Tim Crosby writes:

    the Paris Review

  18. J Nor writes:

    Love em both, but gotta go with the Paris Review.

  19. sood writes:
  20. Mark writes:

    The Paris Review!!!

  21. Mary Lee Stein writes:

    The Paris Review hands down!

  22. Mindy writes:

    The Gawja Review!

  23. Marie Christodulaki writes:
  24. zivile writes:

    The Paris Review.

  25. Diane Little writes:

    Georgia Review

  26. Cameron writes:
  27. Shaun writes:

    Paris Review!

  28. Bill Diskin writes:

    Georgia Review. I met George Plimpton and he was…

    Georgia Review.

  29. Bill writes:

    I’m such a long-time Paris Review fan and subscriber (I’ve saved every ish since 1985), that I’m going to say: Paris Review all the way!

  30. Tim Johnson writes:

    Georgia Review!

  31. Travis writes:

    GA review all the way!!!

  32. Miranda writes:

    Georgia Review!!

  33. Rebecca C. writes:

    The Georgia Review!

  34. Amelia writes:

    Paris Review!!!

  35. doug writes:

    Frederick Seidel and the Paris Review!

  36. Annie writes:
  37. Dana Froetschel writes:

    The Georgia Review!! Just the best!

  38. bt writes:

    The Georgia Review!!
    It’s older, and it’s from the South.
    Two Points!

  39. Matt writes:

    The Paris Review, with a dunk

  40. Brenda Keen writes:

    All right, it’s time for a full court press from The Georgia Review. The Spring 2012 issue was a little slow getting out of the printer’s door, but the wheels are rolling and bringing a rich selection of “two-fers” from our finest writers to our finest readers. We even have a former Bulldawgs cheerleader in this issue–Pulitzer Prize-winner Natasha Trethewey.

  41. steve writes:

    Georgia Review

  42. Laura M writes:

    The Georgia Review!

  43. Jason writes:

    Paris Review. All the way!!!

  44. papatour writes:

    The Paris Review!

  45. JD writes:
  46. DW writes:

    Paris Review!!

  47. Nico Novito writes:

    The Paris Review, for sure!

  48. Rastko writes:

    Staying true to the heart of the Paris Review! Sorry, Georgians.

  49. Allen Bell writes:

    The Georgia Review, please and thank you.

  50. Curan writes:

    Paris Review!