Saturday, July 19, 2008

 

I subscribe to the New Yorker.



I received my copy of the July 21, 2008, New Yorker the day after the outrage broke. I had seen the cover cartoon on several websites, sometimes accompanied by a brief synopsis of the article in question. It didn't make sense to comment until I had seen the magazine. It still might not make sense, but that has never stopped me before....

As usual, the New Yorker's political coverage was the weakest part of the magazine. The Obama profile looked to be a basic rehash of stories familiar to any Chicagoan or regular reader of the Chicago Tribune and Sun-Times. I say "looked to be" because I fell asleep before I finished reading the article.

The July 21 issue did have some good pieces. My standard is that if information or quotations from a book or article spring to mind repeatedly when I am supposed to be doing other things -- and not purely because of ridiculousness of subject or egregious grammatical errors -- then the item in question was worth reading. I've waited a couple of days to see what passes the test.

I loved Jill Lepore's story about E. B. White and how the librarian from the New York Public Library tried to have "Stuart Little" blacklisted. The short fiction was a little dull but excusably so since the theme seemed to be dullness. Elizabeth Kolbert's review of a book about grass lawns left me with some ideas about dealing with my own front yard. I agree with Hendrik Hertzberg about Obama's so-called flip flops, so his column pleased me. Neither of the poems and none of the cartoons stuck in my mind. David Denby's review made me want to see the children's film "WALL-E."

Like most periodicals it isn't something I read from cover to cover unless I feel ill and it is the only reading material at hand. I am always happy to see a New Yorker in my mailbox, so that must make me a satisfied reader.

The cover, titled "The Politics of Fear"? Even with all the hoopla, it was forgettable. Don't take my word for it, though. I've never been a fan of Barry Blitt's drawing style, or of caricatures in general.

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Comments:
You always make me smile...what is the title of the one you show from 1999? For awhile, my son and I tried to guess the titles to the covers as a game. I agree with your assessment of the issue in question-altho the hoopla does make me think it is funnier than I would have thought on my own. Nothing like a little contrary humor...:)
 
I don't know the official title but I found it on the "Swim the Apple" website.
 
I almost got the new cover right this week-I guessed "Summer Escape" and it was titled "Summer Getaway" -lobsters escaping out the window of a summer house.
 
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