New York's Varsity Letters sports reading series returns on June 6 at 8 p.m. At this free monthly event at a Lower East Side bar, hosted by Gelf, Rus Bradburd, Donald Evans, and Rick Reilly will read from and talk about their work, and take questions. Plus, Bradburd will be playing the Irish fiddle.

Bradburd coached Irish pro basketball for a two-year stint, while also learning the Irish fiddle. Evans will read from his novel about the fluctuating fortunes of a sports gambler. And Reilly will read from his new collection of his Sports Illustrated columns.

Admission is FREE. Please spread the word to sports fans and book lovers.

Event Details:

Happy Ending Lounge (official site, CitySearch, MySpace)
302 Broome St.
(between Forsyth and Eldridge)
212-334-9676
J/M/Z/F to Delancey
B/D to Grand Street
Look for the hot-pink awning with the words "Health Club" on it.

Doors open at 7:30.
Readings start at 8 sharp.
FREE!

More on this month's authors:

Rus Bradburd, author of Paddy on the Hardwood: A Journey in Irish Hoops (Read Gelf's interview with Bradburd)

Donald Evans, author of Good Money After Bad (Read Gelf's interview with Evans)

Rick Reilly, author of Sports Illustrated: Hate Mail from Cheerleaders and Other Adventures from the Life of Reilly. (Read Gelf's interview with Reilly)

Copies of the books will be available for sale, courtesy Mobile Libris. Questions? Suggestions for future readings? Email varsityletters@gmail.com.
Varsity Letters is on MySpace.

Upcoming events

July 5: Jim Gorant, author of Fanatic: Ten Things All Sports Fans Should Do Before They Die (read Gelf's interview with Gorant); John Heidenry, author of The Gashouse Gang: How Dizzy Dean, Leo Durocher, Branch Rickey, Pepper Martin, and Their Colorful, Come-from-Behind Ball Club Won the World Series—and America's Heart—During the Great Depression; and Eric Mirlis, author of Being There: 100 Sports Pros Talk About the Best Sporting Events They Ever Witnessed Firsthand.

August 1: Sally Jenkins, author of The Real All Americans: The Team That Changed a Game, a People, a Nation; Seth Mnookin, author of Feeding the Monster: How Money, Smarts, and Nerve Took a Team to the Top; and Joe Posnanski, author of The Soul of Baseball: A Road Trip Through Buck O'Neil's America.

September 5: Frank Deford, author of The Entitled; Neal Thompson, author of Hurricane Season: A Coach, His Team, and Their Triumph in the Time of Katrina and Driving with the Devil: Southern Moonshine, Detroit Wheels, and the Birth of NASCAR; and another author TBA.

October 3: John Bacon, author of Bo's Lasting Lessons: The Legendary Coach Teaches the Timeless Fundamentals of Leadership; and other authors TBA.

Note: July's Varsity Letters event occurs on the first Thursday of the month, because the first Wednesday is the 4th.

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