To some degree I think it's pretentious. And I hate the font. That said I like some of the fiction and articles but don't read it regularly.

A long time ago, a coworker asked me out of the blue what I thought of The New Yorker, and I pretty much answered the above (more emphasis on pretentious) and it turned out his grandfather was one of the magazine's founders. Oops.

To some degree I think it's pretentious. And I hate the font. That said I like some of the fiction and articles but don't read it regularly.

A long time ago, a coworker asked me out of the blue what I thought of The New Yorker, and I pretty much answered the above (more emphasis on pretentious) and it turned out his grandfather was one of the magazine's founders. Oops.

The New Yorker also has the best TV reviewer around-Emily Nussbaum. Ta'Nehisi Coates brought me back to The Atlantic, and I do find some of their political analysis compelling, but for an all around magazine that will keep me occupied for hours I choose The New Yorker.

Anonymous wrote:I love the New Yorker. I like the in depth articles. My faves are Atul Gawande's medical articles and Gopnik's art articles. I think people think it is higher brow because of their copy editing/style guide. I also like Vanity Fair, The Atlantic, and London Review of Books.

Sorry that should be New York Review of Books. We get both but I prefer the NY.

I love the New Yorker. I like the in depth articles. My faves are Atul Gawande's medical articles and Gopnik's art articles. I think people think it is higher brow because of their copy editing/style guide. I also like Vanity Fair, The Atlantic, and London Review of Books.

Anonymous wrote:"Trite and mediocre"? The New Yorker? Are you sure you're thinking about the right magazine, and not New York Mag?

I can think of a lot of reasons to dislike parts of the New Yorker (cartoons, "humor" pieces, etc) but there's pretty much nothing that compares to it in terms of long-form journalism these days.

New Yorker lover here. I don't think NY Mag is trite and mediocre either!

Anonymous wrote:I read the New Yorker because sometimes they have truly excellent and interesting reporting. There was an article about warfare in Mosul a few months back that was one of the best things I've read in ages. I also enjoy their science/medical journalism (e.g. Elizabeth Kolbert, Atul Gawande), their cultural critics (Anthony Lane, Emily Nussbaum), and the "Talk of the Town" columns are always fun. And hey, love the cartoons.

What I don't love about the New Yorker: I haven't enjoyed their short fiction in ages. Maybe once in a blue moon I read a short story in there that blows me away, but most of the time it is totally meh. New Yorker short fiction all seems to have this same deadened feel to it. I also think that some of their long-term contributors are way past their prime and haven't written anything readable in a while - Adam Gopnik and Calvin Trillin come to mind.

I agree with this - it just got to blah and depressing, although I will check out the Lionel Shriver one because I like her.

I love the New Yorker. I don't have time to read every article, every week. But when I read an in-depth article, I can really get into it and am sad when it's over.

I read the New Yorker because sometimes they have truly excellent and interesting reporting. There was an article about warfare in Mosul a few months back that was one of the best things I've read in ages. I also enjoy their science/medical journalism (e.g. Elizabeth Kolbert, Atul Gawande), their cultural critics (Anthony Lane, Emily Nussbaum), and the "Talk of the Town" columns are always fun. And hey, love the cartoons.

What I don't love about the New Yorker: I haven't enjoyed their short fiction in ages. Maybe once in a blue moon I read a short story in there that blows me away, but most of the time it is totally meh. New Yorker short fiction all seems to have this same deadened feel to it. I also think that some of their long-term contributors are way past their prime and haven't written anything readable in a while - Adam Gopnik and Calvin Trillin come to mind.

Sorry, I meant Lionel Shriver as the author of theriver story above. Same author as We Need to Talk about Kevin, which I know too much about the dramatic ending to read.

Also had know idea Lionel Shriver was a woman until I just googled the name!

Here is the story:
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.newyorker.com/magazine/2013/11/25/kilifi-creek/amp

Love the New Yorker although I can't keep up with it weekly. I'm always about 2-3 months behind.

What I love: Emily nussbaum, restaurant reviews, some talk if the town, the in depth articles (they had a profile of Seth McFarlaine that was awesome) and some of the fiction. Really loved this one Lionel Sussman short story called The River a while back.

I tend to skip over the political stuff, the ballet and opera stuff, and any really deep articles on something boring to me (Russian oligarchs, etc). But it is really well written.

Is The American Scholar still good? I haven't read it lately, but found it more to my taste than The Atlantic or The New Yorker. You might check it out, OP.

Anonymous wrote:New Yorker articles are consistently well-written. Their editing process is one of the best. Some of the pieces are really fantastic, long-form, investigative journalism. They have a history of excellent staff or regular contributors--John McPhee, Phillip Gourevitch, Bill McKibben, Adam Gopnik, Elizabeth Kolbert, Hendrik Hertzberg, Amy Davidson, etc. And Anthony Lane's film reviews are a treasure.

I agree with this. I read the Atlantic too, along with The Economist (mostly for work) and I used to love Harper's but I haven't read it in a long time so I don't know if they are still doing good long-form journalism.

New Yorker articles are consistently well-written. Their editing process is one of the best. Some of the pieces are really fantastic, long-form, investigative journalism. They have a history of excellent staff or regular contributors--John McPhee, Phillip Gourevitch, Bill McKibben, Adam Gopnik, Elizabeth Kolbert, Hendrik Hertzberg, Amy Davidson, etc. And Anthony Lane's film reviews are a treasure.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't read every piece but I think they publish some amazing stuff.

I'm curious what magazines you like, OP?

People, The Atlantic, The Atlantic

made up garbage 3/4 of the time