In the New Yorker...

[Jeff Wrangler]

I can't remember where I saw it, but somewhere I read that many New Yorker pieces start out, usually in the first sentence, by mentioning a specific date, or a month and year, or at least establishing a time frame of some sort. Since then, I've noticed how true that is.

That's an interesting observation. I'd never heard that, or noticed. I'll have to look for it in future issues. 

[Jeff Wrangler]

Over dinner tonight (what else?), I read Patricia Marx' article in the Jan. 16 issue about shopping for food in New York. What a fun article!  

I loved her description of a store called Fairway. What's not to love about a place that stocks 600 varieties of artisanal cheese from all over the world but isn't too snooty to also carry Velveeta and Spam?  

(Incidentally, the article begins, "In the eighteen-sixties. ..."  )

[serious crayons]

Over dinner tonight (what else?), I read Patricia Marx' article in the Jan. 16 issue about shopping for food in New York. What a fun article!  

I loved her description of a store called Fairway. What's not to love about a place that stocks 600 varieties of artisanal cheese from all over the world but isn't too snooty to also carry Velveeta and Spam?  

(Incidentally, the article begins, "In the eighteen-sixties. ..."  )

 

I love her writing. Her shopping topics aren't always all that compelling, but she makes them fun with her wry humor.

[Front-Ranger]

Okay, I decided to test your very interesting theory with the latest issue. I skipped the political scene article but I'm sure it's good, because it's by Ariel Levy. I did notice, however, that it began "Eight days before Christmas..." Bingo! Ditto with the next article, "Out the Window", bu Donald Hall, which began "Today it is January..." I skipped it but will probably go back to it if I have timje. I was most intrigued by the 4th article, "Slow and Steady" by William Finnegan. The photo is wonderful...two guys staring at the camera from a grassy perch. Only one of the giuys is a plowshare tortoise!! It begins, "One smuggler wore a trilby, which with a black band..." and then it goes on to describe two other smugglers. So, it breaks the rule by leading with character development.

Then comes a fiction piece, "Labyrinth" by Roberto Bolano. From what I can tell by a quick scan, it is all character development and little else! Written in the present tense and translated from Spanish, the storyt appears to take place sometime in the 1980s or 1990s. Obviously, if you want your article to be up front in the New Yorker, begin with a calender reference by all means!!

[serious crayons]

I wish I could find the article or blog post or whatever it was where I first read about this. I tried googling various relevant terms, but unfortunately they're all too common to pull it up.

[Ellemeno]

I just spent the last few days reading the last twenty or so pages of this thread.  I miss reading the New Yorker.  I kept not keeping up, and when it became time to renew, I wouldn't let myself.  So I enjoyed the Malcolm Gladwell and David Sedaris vicariously through your posts.

I feel kind of pleased, because I had independently observed that articles often start out with a date or time reference.  One time it popped out at me, and I watched for it ever since.

Jeff, here's Dexter Filkins:

[Jeff Wrangler]

Jeff, here's Dexter Filkins:

So that's Dexter Filkins! Thanks! 

[Jeff Wrangler]

Over lunch today I enjoyed William Finnegan's article in the January 23 issue about Eric Goode and the plowshare tortoise of Madagascar.

I like tortoises. They look so wise. And they must be the longest-lived fauna on earth. Finnegan mentions a tortoise that Captain Cook gave to the king of Tonga in 1777 that didn't die until 1966, which is 189 years later (and presumably the creature was full grown when Cook gave it to the king).

Incidentally, this article begins, "One smuggler wore a trilby, white with a black band." 

[serious crayons]

Finnegan mentions a tortoise that Captain Cook gave to the king of Tonga in 1777 that didn't die until 1966, which is 189 years later (and presumably the creature was full grown when Cook gave it to the king).

Mind-boggling! 

[Front-Ranger]

I was most intrigued by the 4th article, "Slow and Steady" by William Finnegan. The photo is wonderful...two guys staring at the camera from a grassy perch. Only one of the giuys is a plowshare tortoise!! It begins, "One smuggler wore a trilby, which with a black band..." and then it goes on to describe two other smugglers. So, it breaks the rule by leading with character development.

Yes, I wrote that already...