The essays in this collection cover familiar, even hackneyed, subjects (e.g. the Iditarod, Roswell, Route 66, the British royal family), but Phillips has a distinctive take on every one of them. He recognizes, for example, that the most compelling sports journalism addresses the experience of fans (cf. Nick Hornby's Fever Pitch, David Foster Wallace's pieces about tennis). His essay on the Iditarod is more about the loneliness of the Alaskan outback than the race; the most vivid section of the sumo wrestling piece is about the arena ("bottle openers attached to railings with string, so fans can open beer...seat cushions resting on elevated platforms, so fans can slide their shoes underneath"). Similarly, the essay about visiting an Indian tiger preserve captures the mundane details of the rest stops alongside the wonder of the wildlife.
Phillips varies his writing style to suit his subjects. The essay about Queen Elizabeth begins with a lovely poetic vision of London in the late summer.
Every essay in the collection includes an owl, usually it's as tangential as a pair of stone owls at the top of a staircase. I only noticed the glancing references because of the book title. Do they mean something? And what makes them impossible?
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