the glossys

fairly successful day that started with donating books to goodwill, checking out local bike shops, and buying a stack of magazines at borders for 40% off. still waiting a few weeks for the discount to reach the pristine philosophy section. the two short stories collection were a steal at $3 each. i am a bit skeptical about egger's "the best american nonrequired reading 2008", having viewed the series as a product of cultural a.d.d. from the pick i am most excited by the magazines all of which i have never read due to their rather high prices and my dislike of cafe reading.

here are the ones i picked:

Lapham's Quarterly Volume IV, Number 3: Food

Paris Review 197: William Gibson & Samuel R. Delany Interviews 

Clash 60: The Film Issue
Lula 12: Girl of My Dreams
Monocle Issues 45 Volume 5: What does it take to make a city both liveable and lively?

currently, the only two publications i read regularly are foreign policy and the new yorker. i'm thinking of adding one or two quarterly publications. i'm decided against clash and lula and wavering on paris review since i already have the new yorker. interestingly, the last three added to three other publication (the gentlewoman, fantastic man, and boat studio ) make six rather superficially inviting zines from great britain; what's in their water? i am mostly likely to subscribe to boat, which relocates to and writes regarding a different city every issue. and a bit because it has the least embarrassing name.

Boat Studio [site link] [review]
Clash [site link]
Fantastic Man [site link] [review]
The Gentlewoman [site link] [review]
Lapham's Quarterly [site link]
Lula [site link]
Monocle [site link]
Paris Review [site link]



Lapham's Quarterly  Review

"Published four times a year, each issue of Lapham’s Quarterly adopts and explores a single theme...A typical issue features an introductory Preamble from Editor Lewis H. Lapham; approximately 100 “Voices in Time” — that is, appropriately themed selections drawn from the annals and archives of the past — and newly commissioned commentary and criticism from today’s preeminent scholars and writers. Myriad photographs, paintings, charts, graphs, and maps round out each issue’s 224 pages."

I have two primary complaints about the content. The preamble promised a good mix of history, culture, and politics relating to food. Based on the open article's somewhat serious concluding slant on neo-Malthusianism, the obesity crisis, and current food production I was expecting more attempt to trace the origins of our growing food crisis both at home and abroad which were only partially satiated at the end by an article on America's pastoral nostalgia (which is why agricultural reform is so vexing--see the insidious and delusional ad campaign in DC's tunnels). Yet this section only warranted a passing few pages in a ~250 page ad-less magazine. There is a pretension to create a more informed public, and not putting aside the fun of reading about ancients feast rituals and Bourdain's meal of an endangered species (=__=), but shouldn't people also learn a little bit about themselves? For example that the cows we eat are feed on an unnatural diet of corn which would kill them if not for the abundance of antibiotics pumped into them, which means that our meat is unhealthier than ever, fattier and full of medicine that passes onto us and not to our benefit. I think there is a clear necessity on the topic of food to be vocal about these long-term problems: the battle over GMOs, the crisis in farm subsidies, the issue of obesity vs. malnutrition and its class dimensions or even on a more literary basis how we are what we eat and now in worse ways than ever.

At the same time I understand these are weighty issues which have been most effectively addressed in books (though "An Omnivore's Dilemma" managed to be literary, political, and interesting) and academic papers. but Lapham neatly side-stepped hard work in order to focus rather exclusively on a disconnected literary past. The two hundred or so pages in between are filled with short passages culled from myriad sources spanning the breadth of human history, from literature to court records to manner books to autobiography...there is an interest in establishing a long dialogue across cultures, but most of the time it reads as a western tale with a smatter of eastern flavor to appear comprehensive. I like the choices, especially since i've read half of them in high school or college--"To Praise a Mockingbird", "Things Fall Apart", "Oliver Twist", "Walden", "The Jungle", "A Modest Proposal", "Lives of Artists"...--so I get bored. Lapham clearly writes for a Western moneyed audience (who else can afford the cover price?) but it fails to become more than a rehash of the narrow narrative we have already ingested as kids. Perhaps I should not judge from a single issue since it was a 2011 finalist for the National Magazine Award. It is doubtlessly better than most magazines. I also admit that the pictures are gorgeous (rubber cover!), the format is comfortable, and I enjoy its lack of ads. But I am bothered by its relatively few new material and its extreme collage nature. Throughout my life I have had to continuously work against an inability to focus and I suppose I dislike my reading materials mirroring my lack.


Monocle Review

"Monocle is a global briefing covering international affairs, business, culture and design."

I enjoyed this magazine much more than Lampham's. The later is maybe like changing channels every five minutes on a TV dealing only in literary foods while the former a long documentary that weaves several dimensions (business, culture, design) into a loose focus on a large topic complete with interesting asides. Though it might be more of a montage, Monacle somehow feels more comfortable a read than Lampham's failed simplicity: narrow theme != depth. Granted there is a lot more money -- see the middle section of monocle monogramed wares, the blackberry insert booklet, and the patek philippe back cover (complete yuppie chow)-- thus more work put into Monocle: great long and short interviews, original research, and easy-on-the-eyes formatting and glossy photography sections.

I especially love the photos, favorites being the series on Monacle's own base called the Midori House (above). I'm also amused by its Japanese slant: a good half of "50 things to improve your life" has to do with Japanese living: Kentaro recipes, salarymen cotton crepe trousers, Maruni furnitures, Hakusan crockery. The first bit is personally interesting; roommates and god knows that I need to figure out other food to eat besides dumplings, tofu, and dried ramen.

05/50: A Clutch of Kentaro Recipes You Know by Heart
"For those dismayed by the fact that Japanese food is fare easier to consume than it is to create. Kentaro Kobayashi is a godsend. The chef has penned a raft of Japanese cookery books, which make the taste of rustling up a buttered yellowtail rice bowl or miso pork noodles seem effortless. His home cooking books also dispel the lingering myth that Japanese cuisine consists only of raw fish, rice, and conveyer belts, with each focusing on a range of everyday food types. With many released under the umbrella title "Easy Japanese Cooking", favorites including Bento Love, Donburi Mania, Noodle Comfort and Veggie Heaven."