The World Beyond BetterMost > The Culture Tent
In the New Yorker...
Jeff Wrangler:
--- Quote from: Jeff Wrangler on October 03, 2019, 01:31:06 pm ---Has anybody read "Value Meal," by Tad Friend (Sept. 30)? It looks to me like it's another one of those articles that's longer by half than it needs to be.
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--- Quote from: Front-Ranger on October 04, 2019, 06:52:03 pm ---No, I thought the same thing, although I like his writing so I'll at least start it.
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I finished it, and I found it interesting, but I think it was longer than necessary.
serious crayons:
Tad Friend dates back to the old, wordy New Yorker, right?
I think history looks, or will look, kindly on some of the changes Tina Brown made. As you recall, she was hugely controversial -- Garrison Keillor, as I recall, was one of those who stomped out in a huff -- but one thing she did right, IMO, is to make New Yorker articles more relevant to current events and pop culture.
I might read a longish piece about, oh, ICE or Rudy Giuliani or Edward Snowden or, heck, Brad Pitt. But I remember one of the last straws for me in the old New Yorker was a piece of probably close to 10,000 words about the inner operations of a small Manhattan grocery store. "Thursday is the day the dairy delivery truck restocks the dairy case with milk, cream, yogurt, cheese ..." (Going from memory. ;D)
Jeff Wrangler:
--- Quote from: serious crayons on October 07, 2019, 10:21:12 am ---Tad Friend dates back to the old, wordy New Yorker, right?
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I don't know. The contributor page says he's been a staff writer since 1998.
--- Quote ---I think history looks, or will look, kindly on some of the changes Tina Brown made. As you recall, she was hugely controversial -- Garrison Keillor, as I recall, was one of those who stomped out in a huff -- but one thing she did right, IMO, is to make New Yorker articles more relevant to current events and pop culture.
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It seems to me that articles got shorter (and in my opinion more reader friendly) during the Brown era.
--- Quote ---I might read a longish piece about, oh, ICE or Rudy Giuliani or Edward Snowden or, heck, Brad Pitt. But I remember one of the last straws for me in the old New Yorker was a piece of probably close to 10,000 words about the inner operations of a small Manhattan grocery store. "Thursday is the day the dairy delivery truck restocks the dairy case with milk, cream, yogurt, cheese ..." (Going from memory. ;D)
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Was that a real article? I don't remember. I wonder what anyone would say today about devoting an entire issue to one story--like John Hersey's "Hiroshima"?
serious crayons:
--- Quote from: Jeff Wrangler on October 07, 2019, 10:45:50 am ---I don't know. The contributor page says he's been a staff writer since 1998.
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Then no. The Brown era started in the '80s, as I recall.
--- Quote ---It seems to me that articles got shorter (and in my opinion more reader friendly) during the Brown era.
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Yes. Before her time the New Yorker did not regularly cover ongoing current events, politics or pop culture. I agree about the reader friendliness.
--- Quote ---Was that a real article? I don't remember. I wonder what anyone would say today about devoting an entire issue to one story--like John Hersey's "Hiroshima"?
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I think with a story that big and important and dramatic, they'd be OK with it. Now, on the other hand, the day-to-day operations of a small grocery store ... ::)
How much of the issue that came out after 9/11 was about 9/11? Anybody remember?
Front-Ranger:
I remember the cover of that issue. It was completely black, with the shadow of the twin towers depicted in varnish (or the aqueous coating that replaced varnish) so that you could only see the image by the light reflected from it.
As I recall, the issue was mainly about 9-11 and won awards. I think I still have it somewhere.
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