Periodicals

When contemplating my seemingly low book totals, I decided that periodicals will count as well. So, without further ado, here’s what fills my reading time that doesn’t have a spine (most of the time). Upon looking down this list, I see why I don’t read enough books, and why I don’t have enough money!

The Week. I read this magazine cover to cover, pretty much. I do skip some sections, like Stage and some of the Business stuff, but for the most part, this is just the greatest magazine ever. It condenses all of the week’s news into summaries from the different publications. So, you get a lot of different opinions on the issues. You get most of the major dailies, and you even get some of the loony opinions from National Review Online. Great stuff!

Entertainment Weekly. Ah, time to unwind with fluff. And there’s little that’s more fluffy than EW. A great source of information for upcoming books, music and TV, and when its not droning on and on and on and on about American Idol, its actually a pretty good read too.

The Walrus. This is a great magazine from Canada. It covers all kinds of issues, both Canadian and international. It has great fiction, and really interesting perspectives on things that affect us down here in the U.S. I highly recommend this magazine, and can’t say enough good things about it.

The Believer. This periodical does have a spine, and its pretty heavy as well. This subject is literary, and it features lengthy interviews with writers by writers, and well as philosophers, artists and the like. There are also really long articles on things that you never heard of, and then you read a page or two and the author is so into what he or she is writing about that you MUST find out more. This month’s obsession is the Codex Seraphiniaus, a bizzaro text of words and pictures that were written by an Italian man and yet are not in Italian, they’re in some made up language. And, evidently the book is exceedingly hard to find. Great great stuff! This is affiliated with the McSweeney’s tribe of releases, if that helps.  I was introduced to this one by my friend Roman.  Thanks Roman.

Harper’s. I love to hate or hate to love this magazine. I was introduced to this magazine many many years ago by my then girlfriend’s sister’s really weird boyfriend. He fancied himself a writer and loved Henry Miller. I feel that he always mispronounced Karamazov and overused the word “vapid.” Plus, he was writing his novel on a typewriter he bought just for that purpose. Naturally I didn’t trust anything he recommended, and yet I read Harper’s and really liked it. Again, another digest-type magazine of snippets from other sources. And then some great original reporting and fiction. The reason I hate to see it in the mailbox is because all of the long articles are really really long. And, frankly at this point, after the Believer and The Week and The Walrus, who has time for Harper’s. Usually one article is great and worth reading, so it stays on my list.

The New Yorker. The New Yorker falls sort of into the Harper’s category, although without the fascinating back story. I always find a good article in there, and often enjoy the fiction. But mostly I like the news articles in the front.

McSweeney’s. Technically a periodical. A collection of short stories and things like it. I’m usually too overwhelmed by the time this comes in, and frankly, I am many many issues behind on reading this. However, I plowed through 21 and 22 recently, and just got 23. So, I’m looking forward to it and its brethren. I got turned onto McSweeney’s because I used to subscribe to MIGHT magazine (R.I.P) which was a hilarious magazine ala SPY(R.I.P). Might ran for a dozen or so issues and then strangely morphed into McSweeney’s. I think somehow my subscription ran over into McSweeney’s and the rest is 23 issues of fun!

Esquire. I decided I needed another mindless type magazine. So, I got Esquire. It has some fun sections, and then lots of silly sections about buying $400 belts and whatnot. My criterion for magazines of this type is: Do I get a dollar’s worth out of it (or whatever my current “super subscriber’s rate” is). With Esquire, definitely. They always have one or two fun things, and that’s worth a dollar to me.

Wired. Wired created the “is it worth a dollar” criterion for me. My brother-in-law saw me reading Wired, and said, “It’s always THE END OF, or THE BEST OF or some other superlative with them.” And it’s totally true. For the most part Wired is a silly magazine. Hyping technology for the sake of technology. And, there are frankly much better web sites out there like Boing Boing to keep up with silly fun things. However, the selling point for me was when they had an article on the Beastie Boys’ upcoming concert with handheld cameras that resulted in Awesome…I Fucking Shot That. I said, huh, that was worth a dollar to me. I keep waiting for it to not have $1 of interest so I can cancel it, but it keeps living up to my minimal standards.

Radar. This magazine has folded I think three times now. I received a free copy at some point during, I think, its second incarnation. I subscribed to it, and it promptly folded after sending me one issue. I gave up on it and then something like fifteen months later a new issue was in my mailbox. Weird. It’s a bit trashy, and overall kind of dopey. However, there’s some fun celebrity skewering which is always good for a laugh.

The Washington Spectator. This is a fascinating little four page newsletter type thing that comes out every two weeks. It seems to speak for the Democratic Party, but not always. They usually have a healthy dose of righteous outrage. Back in the day I subscribed to The Nation, Mother Jones, The Progressive and The Utne Reader. But man, it got so depressing, that I had to quit them all. I still harbor much happiness for them, and enjoy seeing The Nation writers in The Week, but I don’t have the energy for some much teeth gnashing anymore. So, this little newsletter keeps me somewhat it the loop of indignation. Plus, strangely, it is water resistant, so you can just stick it to the wall of the shower and finish it by the time your hair is clean.

Mental Floss. Wow, what a great magazine! Its for smart people everywhere. Digestable articles about everything imaginable. Your IQ jumps three points with each issue. And, they have a quiz of the day as well.

Rolling Stone. Wow, I’ve really hit mainstream with this one. The story behind Rolling Stone is that I went to Best Buy or some such place and they had a deal where you got a free subscription to the magazine of your choice. Well, I intended to get my few issues and quit. But then I discovered that I actually LIKED it. I liked the politics. I liked some of the music reviews, although frankly their cover choices are pretty questionable. Overall, however, I enjoy it easily as much as some of the other mags I get, and since it comes out every two weeks, I even get a breather in between.