I first heard about this magazine from my friend Ailish’s then-boyfriend, Dave (this was sometime in 1993, I would guess). Dave fancied himself an artiste: he typed his novel on a portable Underwood, loved Henry Miller and read Harper‘s. I liked him, but was always confused by his pretensions since he didn’t really fit the bill. But regardless, when we visited, I always read his Harper’s. I very quickly got hooked on it and have been subscribing ever since.
Harper’s is another one of those magazines that I don’t immediately get excited about receiving because there’s always the possibility that there will be five really long articles that I want to read in it. And who has the time for all of that? Perversely, I am secretly delighted when there is only one story that I want to read in that month’s issue. But I know that if I’m going to read something in it, it will be good.
Clearly the high point of the magazine is Harper’s Index. The index is a list of various statistics. The gimmick, if you will is that everything is written in such a way that the answer can be given in a numerical value. for example: “Amount the ABBA tribute band Bjorn Again says it was paid to play a concert for Vladimir Putin in January (2009): $27,500; Estimated street value of drugs seized last March at three Phish reunion shows in Hampton, Virginia: $1,200,000.”
There is always a Notebook or editor’s letter. They were until recently written by the venerable Lewis Lapham, who has moved on to his own new periodical, Lapham’s Quarterly. But he still occasionally chimes in. These letter are usually timely and thought provoking.
The next section is Readings. It is comprised of usually a dozen or so short pieces culled from other sources. Sometimes they are short stories, sometimes they are snippets of conversations, sometimes they are transcripts from some official source or other. They usually point out some kind of hypocrisy or some other kind of things that makes you think twice. In this issue there’s a transcript from a phone call from 2005 with Bernie Madoff and the owner of his largest feeder fund, in which he tells the guy to act like he doesn’t know what’s happening if anybody asks. There’s a letter from Ronald Reagan to Michael Jackson dated 1984–a few days after he was burned in the Pepsi commercial. Reagan notes that Jackson’s deep faith in God and adherence to traditional values are an inspiration to us all, especially young people. And there’s usually some strange kind of list, like this months: inquiries submitted to the Department of Defense under the Freedom of Information Act (The name of the person or persons who hacked into my U.S. Department of Defense email account).
Then comes the main, more daunting section. There’s usually three or four lengthy pieces of nonfiction. They usually investigate something serious (and are often infuriating or depressing). Sometimes there’s a forum of several thinkers discussing an issue. And sometimes there’s a famous author writing a nonfiction piece (David Foster Wallace often did lengthy pieces for them).
Each month there’s also a fiction piece. Usually, once again, by a heavy hitter.
The last section is reviews, and almost without fail, these are the only arts and entertainment reviews in any magazine that I do not read. They are usually too pretentious for me. Last month there was a lengthy piece on John Zorn, a guy who I like very much, and I was even bored by the end of it, because it was so tangential.
There’s a puzzle at the end that I never do because I find them too hard. Yup, I admit it.
And then the back page is Findings. I hadn’t read these in a while because I didn’t find them that interesting, but I have switched back to them. It’s several paragraphs of new things that have happened since last month. [The FDA approved a new, less noisy female condom]. They are grouped by topic regardless if they are related. So two disparate stories about dogs are in the same sentence.
Aside from the unfortunate consequence of everyone thinking this magazine is Harper’s Bazaar [I swear, try to search for Harper‘s and the Bazaar is all that comes up], no one knows of it has been around since 1850. Yes eighteen fifty! And if you subscribe, you get access to all of the archives online.
Original content from Periodicals Page:
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.
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