This week has a couple good reads if you like deconstructing American myths (and who doesn't?). In God Save the Fan, Will Leitch details how the cult of the athlete has been diminished by YouTube and sports blogs like Deadspin, which (not coincidentally) is edited by the author. A little heavier—thematically if not physically—is William T. Vollmann's Riding Toward Everywhere. In it, the writer describes his post-9/11 escape from society by (that old gambit) riding the rails. It's probably best to avoid reading it until after your next pointless business trip.