Not quite everyman

George Plimpton, a terrific writer who managed to transcend his privileged background and become a sort of everyman figure, died the other day. Now the Lyons Press is reissuing his sports books, including the brilliant Paper Lion and The Bogey Man, the only interesting book ever written about golf. Here's an interesting interview with Plimpton in the Columbia Journal of Lit. Crit.

In other news:

Living in sin, committing adultery and practising black magic will be punished with heavy jail sentences under Indonesia's draft new criminal code, sections of which have become public this week.

The tough provisions in the code, intended to replace much of the criminal law left by Indonesia's former Dutch colonisers, include jail terms of up to 12 years for those who engage in casual sex. Strippers risk two years' jail, and men who renege on promises to marry face four years' jail, a sentence that could be increased to five years if the woman is pregnant.

according to tomorrow's Sydney Morning Herald.