1. matwoolf

    matwoolf Banned Contributor

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    Atlantic Magazine

    Discussion in 'The Lounge' started by matwoolf, Oct 31, 2016.

    I always read about people having multiple subscriptions to literary magazines.

    Probably I was drunk, but [that night] got to thinking - maybe with a subscription to all that is hot, febrile in magazine form, I might have plenty to say - casual conversations, might improve my lot somewhat, entertain ladies at bus stops.

    Always an ambition to have a 'nice' magazine resting round the house, counters the chaos, so I, almost randomly...also I like American advertisements, so I got a subscription

    ...but it is a bit boring.

    Two copies now - both are quite boring.

    I have to wait twelve months till I can try the next one - Tin House. Is the Atlantic 'quite boring' to an American audience? Am I not the right sort of reader, maybe too stupid?
     
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  2. matwoolf

    matwoolf Banned Contributor

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    I dunno, don't think I'll like any of them, beret glued to my head 'an all...

    Once I found this magazine in London, so strange - reading it on-line was kind of magical. Then I discovered a review, some journalist called it avante-garde. I thought 'this is great,' sent the sub-ed a submission...

    His response was three times longer than my original story submission. Totally bonkers, twenty pages, a proper hero really. Maybe I'll go seek him out again? Of course he only published his own 'stuff,' tch..maybe...a conceptual artist blah blah yaw yaw yawnnn :)
    ...

    [Yes, and they're so expensive - I can afford to 'throw away' $30 a year on a subscription, but any more frivolous she'd divorce me properly, y'know...inappropriate humour, etcet]
     
    Last edited: Oct 31, 2016
  3. VynniL

    VynniL Contributor Contributor

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    As usual HUH? I'm beginning to suspect you're really an alien.

    How about this...? Not exactly literary but a tad (barely and depends on who you are) more entertaining. I mean, I don't pay for it myself, just kinda glance at the covers in the supermarket in the passing...But maybe these ladies at the bus stop might find you more interesting if they caught you reading this?

    https://www.magshop.com.au/womans-day?gclid=CMHwtbLshdACFQqBvQodk8kLfQ
     
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  4. matwoolf

    matwoolf Banned Contributor

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    I'm denied those 'kind of' magazines @LinnyV - that's why I tried the poncy stuff, just once. A mistake, I'm sure you're right.
     
  5. VynniL

    VynniL Contributor Contributor

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    @matwoolf maybe she knows you plan to impress the ladies with your expansive knowledge on gossip news? There are ways to thwart her if you're serious in getting up to date knowledge to impress the bus ladies.

    Seriously, I realized as I'm tapping this (and laughing), I've not seen a man open a lady magazine (not to be confused with girlie mags!) in front of those magazine racks, ever. You can truly stand out of the crowd and make a point of doing so! Send the wife around with the shopping trolling and then read as fast as you can.

    You might not get all the stories right, and the wrong celebrities sleeping together or the wrong baby name. But you're a writer, this is where you can fill in the gaps with a bit of creativity! Annual subscription $0 :agreed:

    If you're lucky, the story can evolve so badly, you'd have a submission idea by the time you return from bus stop... win/win. Don't thank me. I am a genius, I know.
     
  6. matwoolf

    matwoolf Banned Contributor

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    Thanks @Linny for talking about my 'problem.'

    I read ladies' mags mainly at the dentist once every five years, or sometimes at the supermarket inside a cycling comic or Cosmo on-line via the darkweb. But I mean things have evolved [since around 2005] I don't really go to supermarkets any longer, no more supermarkets really, unless my wife has a broken leg maybe, or we got no food or no telephone, or maybe it's the morning. I go to supermarkets early in the morning when it's only men, workmen guys like me, or they look like me, at least. No women, just depressed men plumbers and builders, except cashiers who are sometimes women - and horseriders - they get up early. That's why I was looking for a different kind of reading experience. You cannot just buy a literary magazine anywhere, you need to know where to look.
     
  7. BayView

    BayView Huh. Interesting. Contributor

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    I love The Atlantic, but not for its literary merits - I just think it's a good source of news and analysis. Were you reading the fiction, or the articles?
     
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  8. matwoolf

    matwoolf Banned Contributor

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    I'm glad you like it. Like I said when I was being silly I should have gone for Tin House.

    It's all right - just I'm not into Bruce Springsteen/Silicon Valley articles so much, my mistake. I enjoy the cultural difference - adverts for American shirts, such-like. Need to give it another 'flick.'

    Is it deemed rather 'sober,' 'conservative?'
     
  9. BayView

    BayView Huh. Interesting. Contributor

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    I'd say it's pretty serious, for sure, but not "conservative" as a contrast to "liberal". I'd say it's a bit left of centre by US standards...
     
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  10. VynniL

    VynniL Contributor Contributor

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    @matwoolf - I honestly don't get magazines anymore. They look like tree killers to me these days. I write this with my nose looking down on them holding my iPad or oversized iPhone. I actually thought that the other day as I walked past these colorful shiny racks filled with so many mags, what happens to them when no one buys? I certainly don't see them flying off the shelf.

    If I need a different reading experience, the internet offers weird and wonderful things and caters for all, even your cross cultural shirts... Hey, you don't need to just look at these American shirts adverts, you can place a bid!!!!!!

    I don't think having literary content on paper will make me feel anymore writery. If I'm that bored, I'd just visit WF. Personally, I'd prefer to watch a Nat Geo doco on YouTube.

    I would suggest getting a tablet with data but maybe you'd feel too hoity, toity with your shiny device with your work buddies. Or maybe you guys would all sit there watching vids. Hehe. Or maybe it's just impractical, which is a shame. :-(

    I'm sorry I couldn't solve your bus lady chat problem. I still think you should just make up the stories and see who believes you. Maybe report back on your conversational prowess. I would be interested.

    Good luck and keep ...reading something...!!!
     
  11. matwoolf

    matwoolf Banned Contributor

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    I think rather...that paper makes a come-back.

    ...after watching a brace of conspiracy videos - my favourite guy does not keep a phone - and neither do I. My son smashed the Apple because 'you old prick,' and possess only the farm 'brick' these days for alarm call and summons.

    As to the benefits of paper. My wife enjoys copies of 'The Atlantic' piled in our conservatory, impressive for visitors if somebody did ever, or whatever, us indoors. I do not read them because they are boring, mainly articles about Obama somebody. They are literally yesterday's papers, glossy.

    However, today all my colleagues were on holiday so I purchased a broadsheet guilt-free, and read words, filled a couple of 'quick crossword' answers, a total pleasure for me.

    Also my wife has a new job, she says I can pursue a second subscription. And today even I re-subscribed to The Atlantic for no reason, and by post. How many stamps for the USA? I put four stamps on the letter, I only had four stamps. How much is a letter to America?

    I might get Tin House, but I'm English, getting on a bit, I think it's Granta, New Statesman, or Spectator. Spectator's very Boris Johnson. Everybody really hates Boris these days. So, what shall I have for my second subscription @ £30 a year?

    A mental episode

    ...

    Here's the conspiracy guy

     
    Last edited: Jan 20, 2017
  12. deadrats

    deadrats Contributor Contributor

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    The Atlantic is a great and important publication. Sorry it didn't grab you at first, but I would give it more of a chance if I were you. If you're just after the fiction, there are others to consider. One Story is pretty great. They mail you one story per month. It's a little, stabled-together book containing one story. It might not look as pretty left in key places around the house, but they really put out amazing stuff by some of today's great short story writers. I am a big fan of The Paris Review. It's a lot edgier than people who don't read it would think. I find each issue anything but boring. Tin House is great, but The Paris Review often feels more exciting to read. I would say go for The Paris Review. Plus, copies of that will probably look equally as impressive to your visitors.
     
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  13. matwoolf

    matwoolf Banned Contributor

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    Yes, you are right @DR. Thanks for reminding me that it is an interesting & important read, I renewed the subscription. I forgot about the Paris Review. Anyway, mum's the word, literary subs are the enemy, everybody knows that.

    So you think 'Paris Review' on the table, harp by the hearth, what else?
     
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  14. deadrats

    deadrats Contributor Contributor

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    You've got to get the New Yorker when they are giving away free totes with subscriptions. Then you've got New Yorkers on the coffee table at home and a tote you can use for your groceries at Whole Foods. I do love The New Yorker. You can read ten stories on their website for free each month. They really have great insight and thought-provoking pieces all the time. But they are more like The Atlantic then The Paris Review. American Short Fiction is really good. Ploughshares. Agni. The Gettysburg Review. The Missouri Review. Those are my favorites.
     
  15. matwoolf

    matwoolf Banned Contributor

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    So, I don't get any e-mails, but today received this one from The Atlantic - something, something about needing to be more racist, and read more Nazi literature for me to be rounded in my chi..

    This man has spent much time on Linkedin, a former employee of IBM, I suspect.


    Dear Reader,

    From social media to cable TV, it's easy to find ourselves in information silos of our own construction, getting news and views from like-minded sources, and shutting ourselves off from perspectives that might surprise or challenge us. This reality—call it an echo chamber or a filter bubble—can make it hard to grapple with the complexities of the world we live in.
    [BURP]

    At The Atlantic, we aim to confront and even celebrate these complexities. A commitment to this open exchange of ideas has guided us since our founders gathered over a five-hour dinner in Boston 160 years ago. They wrote that the magazine would be "the organ of no party or clique." It would instead be independent of any fixed ideology, committed only to the pursuit of truth and to being, as they put it, "the exponent of the American idea."

    From the Civil War through the Trump administration, we have tried to live up to our founders' values. By challenging accepted wisdom, we strive to bring clarity, original thinking, and transformational ideas to the most consequential issues of the day.
    [FABULOUS]

    Question Answers

    More recently, we've distilled the essence of our mission into a simple maxim: Question answers. In other words, be suspicious of familiar thinking, and prosecute the convenient explanations.

    Over the years, readers like you have joined us as we've questioned answers together. In our digital world, this has turned into a kind of ongoing dialogue, a process of collective exploration that exposes us all to novel ideas and insights.

    To honor that exploration, we're launching a project called Question Your Answers. To kick off the initiative, we had the great fortune to work with Michael K. Williams, star of The Wire and The Night Of, among other critically acclaimed shows and movies.
    [WHAT WILL THEY ASK HIM? SOMETHING INCREDIBLE...]

    We feature him in a short film, where he wrestles with his own pressing question: Is he being typecast?
    [HOW CAN ANY ACTOR ANSWER THIS MONUMENTAL ENQUIRY?]


    [​IMG]
    I hope you enjoy the film.
    [WHAT FILM? THIS MAN HAS AN INITIAL IN HIS NAME.] As you'll see on the page at that link, we've also produced an editorial series of videos along a similar theme, featuring Caitlyn Jenner, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and Ta-Nehisi Coates, with more installments forthcoming. And we turned a handful of questions, from the lighthearted to the weighty, into art, which you can share to spark conversation.

    If you have any ideas about how we can question answers together, shoot us a note: question@theatlantic.com. We'd love to hear from you.

    Bob Cohn
    President
    The Atlantic
     
    Last edited: Feb 15, 2017
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  16. Homer Potvin

    Homer Potvin A tombstone hand and a graveyard mind Staff Supporter Contributor

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    That was awesome. Thanks for sharing @matwoolf!
     
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  17. matwoolf

    matwoolf Banned Contributor

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    Today received my 5th copy - subscription issues now totally resolved. They are piled in the conservatory, a centre-piece to my achievements.

    I took this copy to the garden for reading, probably the most boring issue to date, the front page declared a gender imbalance in Silicon Valley, I don't really care about that, I mean sorry for that. The article ran -

    'Suzanna, a chief exec, and VP of Digital Entertainments Inc sat in the interview suite wearing the recognised uniform of all IT professionals, a hoody, sneakers and her jeans. She was obviously an important technician from the cut of her cloth, and interviewed new pricks for a vacancy.

    However, this new prick, when he sat across from Suzanna, treated Suzanna like she was some dishrag dressed in sneakers and a hoodie. What da fuck, the mysogynist, and she revealed her garote from the desk drawer. Suddenly a man in a suit appeared and the new prick declared:

    'Thank god, a real man.'

    Such is the hell endured by the women of California.

    ...

    Then about twenty pages of watch advertisements. I love The Atlantic Magazine.
     

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