10 Comments

I loved this piece and found myself nodding along with much of it. My New Yorker subscription has been a Christmas present to myself for the last decade or so. It is a weekly treat. However, unlike you I have risen to the heights of coffee table ownership, on which unread copies sit. It is perhaps that visible cue that led to my development of the NewYorker-o-meter as a measure of modern stress and diary overload. Essentially, it is how many unread copies of the New Yorker are currently sitting on my coffee table. A NewYorker-o-meter of 3, is generally a sign that action needs to be taken. Much as I love it, the occasional double issue can come as a relief. Random things - I'm not mad keen on the sometimes twee illustrations that punctuate stories. The word 'ouster' - I'm not sure I've ever seen it used anywhere else. The cartoons are seldom funny but always fascinating.

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With you on the wee illustrations and the baffling cartoons. My big bugbear is the style book, especially the diaeresis (not umlaut) in words like coöperate and reëlect. Does ma nut in.

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Yes, that's always struck me as an affectation. Like those guys who wear different-coloured socks. Also not keen on use of full stops in abbreviations. Quaint, at best.

These are just niggles, of course.

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Love the quote about the real nature of the editor's job. Anyone wanting to read the New Yorker without disappearing quite so completely down the rabbit hole should note that it's freely available on Edinburgh Libraries' Libby e-reader. Pick the one article you really want to read and move on - saves time, money and the guilt trip of a pile or unread back numbers!

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Shhhh! Dave! The Edinburgh Libraries e-reader is one of Scotland’s best-kept secrets! If the word gets out we’re all out of a job!

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Too late!

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Lovely piece which makes me want to take out a subscription which might lead to divorce as the number of unread magazines mounts up but then I think of Logan Pearsall Smith's 'People say that life's the thing but I prefer reading' and think why not.

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Go on!

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Great piece and also made me want to subscribe. I always look out for the China related pieces in the New Yorker as they’ve got three fantastic writers on their books: Peter Hessler, Jiayang Fan and Evan Osnos. Love Hessler’s writing on Egypt too: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/08/10/learning-to-speak-lingerie

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Now on my reading list!

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