We recently installed a stool in the bathroom. Actually, given how crowded this flat is with stuff it was more like found a place for the stool in the bathroom, but the end result is said stool has proven very useful for leaving things on, specifically reading material for those extended sessions on the lavatory. However, given that the shower is also in the room and the ventilation, while sufficient, is not that great, leaving books of any value in there is a no-no. I started leaving the Guardian’s Saturday magazine in there but other than the main couple of articles it doesn’t have the substance to last the week. What I really want is a meaty magazine full of the sort of articles I’m not inclined to read off the screen. I guess I could print out a load but in reality I’m not going to do that regularly (and I don’t have any ink in my printer right now).
So here’s a request. What article-based magazines would you recommend I check out? I’m thinking along the lines of the New Yorker – regular, not overly expensive, intelligent and wide ranging in content. Literary in style but not specifically about literature. Any suggestions?
My immediate thought was Punch but it went out of production (for the second time) in 2002. The link does have some useful archival galleries of the wonderful cartoons that graced Punch’s pages over the years. The New Yorker does sound like a good option but I suppose it is expensive in the UK?
What’s the name of that magazine that collects ‘interesting articles’ from other magazines from all over the world?
and P.S… “stool in the bathroom” – hee hee hee (toilet humour).
I’ve heard that Playboy has a wide variety of interesting articles.
I could mention the Private Eye , but I prefer reading that in the bath. Plus it’s not very literary.
What about the “Scots Magazine”?
http://www.scotsmagazine.com
Ye dinnae hae tae be Scots either!
I am that someone.
The American version of Esquire has good but not too heavy articles. I once locked myself out of my place at 3 am and spent a rewarding evening in an all night diner eating poutine, drinking cola and reading about things, suprisingly fascinating things, I would never have read about like professional bass fishing.
I have no idea if the UK version is as good but the American Esquire never fails to entertain and enlighten me. The UK version seems to more about sex. The New Yorker, Atlantic Monthly (I read a fantastic article about the shuttle crash that I can never forget that plus the Long Winters – The Commander Thinks Aloud – makes my hair stand end every time I hear it) and Harpers are all good but less entertaining, more enlightening and frankly too substantive for reading on the porcelain throne.
I’ve also read several volumes of the Bathroom Reader because I have a brother who likes to mock my relentless multitasking nature every xmas. Perfect movement sized infobites to help pass time while passing thyme.
I think Garen might be thinking of ‘Utne Reader’. A bit too new ageish for me but some people like it.
Lewis commented on the reading material when he was here the other day…” In no other house would you find a copy of the Tao Te Ching in the bathroom”. I like the manga book you’ve left in there, maybe it will become a lovely way of sharing the genres we love the most.
I’d have to protest about Lads Mags but I’ll leave some Dworkin for you… ;)
“We recently installed a stool in the bathroom.”
Toilet. You mean toilet. The bathroom is for bathing.
bse: down there in that London you may well have seperate rooms for shitting and showering but up here in the urban wilds of not-London we make do with one room for both.
srboisvert: I think you might be onto something with the American mags – we just don’t seem to do this sort of middling-intellectual stuff over here in magazine format. I think a trip to Borders is in order.
I’m going add Wired to the list as well.
Flash of inspiration – a second hand book and magazine shop called Readers World in Birmingham used to have loads of this kind of thing. If they’re still doing magazines (actually, if they’re still in business come to think of it) I could probaby get a decent batch for not much money. Hmm.
There are a whole series of Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader books with short articles. Example: “Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader Extraordinary Book of Facts And Bizarre Information (Bathroom Readers).” They are perfect when you don’t have time for a full article! (from Bel Air, Maryland, USA)
Harpers is really good.
I read that.
From a musical perspective you might want to consider Word magazine. It’s very, well, wordy.
My main problem with it is that it can be a bit fogeyish. I mean, how many Bob Dylan, Tom Waits or Neil Young features does the world really need?
Nevertheless, it’s good to see a monthly magazine that can find so much to write about music. I still buy NME every week, but it seems intent on turning itself into the musical equivalent of Heat
Bring said stool to next ATP?
Anyways, back to the matter in hand – it is a problem that perplexes me frequently when faced with a long journey or some such occasion. New Yorker is good. Wired is good too. I quite like Private Eye too. Also, I usually find “whatever SM is reading” far more fascinating that what I’ve got. Women’s mags are occasionally good, Marie Claire a few years ago had some good editorial but I don’t want to wade through pages of skinny models in clothes I can’t afford. On one trip to the US I found a Biography magazine which was excellent, but haven’t found it on any subsequent trips.
My appreciation for our eclectic supplement magazines grew after a stint of living in New Zealand, where the papers lacked somewhat. At a party in Auckland, I met someone who had just returned from Blighty and had a complete Sunday Telegraph, including the magazine. I shall not tell a lie – I stole it from him.
Economist. New Scientist. Fortean Times. Or I could send you a massive pile (fnarr) of old SF magazines — Amazing Times and the like. I keep meaning to sell them on ebay, but you know. Nn, that’s probably not a good idea. They’re really bad.
Nobody’s mentioned The London Review of Books! ‘S fantastic, exatcly what you want. I’m not kidding. And they do a free 6 month sub every now and again just to get you hooked. I’ll snail mail you a copy if you mail me your address.
Everybody’s beaten me to the stool in the bathroom joke, so I shan’t do it again. Nearly all my suggestions have been covered to – Wired, Fortean Times (although I haven’t read that for years, so no idea if it’s still any good – it was trending toward Bizarre-lite when I packed it in), New Scientist, New Statesman, Adbusters (although probably once every six months or so is sufficient), Fangoria (perhaps annually), Judge Dredd Megazine (why not?), or how about a gardening mag – Organic Gardener, Grow Your Own, some thing like that. I shared a flat with a doctor for a while, and got to quite enjoy the New England Journal of Medicine, if only for the fantastic titles the articles had.
Why not select a new mag at random every month? GQ followed by Spin followed by Asian Bride followed by Heat followed by Edge followed by Razzle, something like that.
Brenda: I used to sell the LRB in my bookselling days and never got on with it for some reason. same with the Literary Review.
Re the non-literary aspect of this thread, I have noticed that a bathroom is a washroom (Canada) is a Restroom (USA). All euphemisms for the bodily functions. And “toilet” isn’t exactly an accurate descriptive either. It takes the French to say it like it really is: pissoir!
Way late to the party (story of my life) but no-one seems to have recommended the Utne Reader.
http://www.utne.com/
Vaguely alternative, and contains anything from articles about ethical burial to rites of passage, politics and more. I always find it a stimulating read.
(more about Utne)
Founded in 1984 by Eric Utne, UTNE READER reprints the best articles from over 2,000 alternative media sources bringing you the latest ideas and trends emerging in our culture… Provocative writing from diverse perspectives… Insightful analysis of art and media… Down-to-earth news and resources you can use… In-depth coverage of compelling people and issues that affect your life… The best of the alternative media.
6 issues a year: $30. Thanks to the exchange rate, that’s about 89p.
I’d back up The Word suggestion, and can I add Mojo – and read the articles you don’t think you’d be bothered about, as they are always good.
Wired’s fine in limited doses – sometimes the house style gets a bit cloying, but then I’m sure people feel the same about Mojo.
My wife always recommends Vanity Fair for juicy articles that will last the month.