Blogcritics Category: Books: Magazines

Book Review: The Nation Guide to the Nation

Barbara Barnett — Thu, 8 Jan 2009 19:06:54 EST

The Editors of The Nation have compiled this guide to the 21st-century American Left.
The past eight years seemed an eternity. And now with Barack Obama about to become President of the United States, liberal is no longer a label to be uttered in hushed tones. It’s OK to be a card-carrying liberal again! As it has been since it first began publication in 1865, The Nation is the about as close as you can get to being the...

Book Review - You Idiot: The First Book by Nate Gangelhoff

Alyse Wax — Sat, 3 Jan 2009 19:04:57 EST

A reprint of some not-too-old zines, full of bizarre and irreverent product reviews.
Once upon a time, in the magical land of the 1990s, there was a DIY trend towards zines (independently-published booklets have been around for decades, but came into their own on the 1970s punk scene – the movement was popularized as the years went on). Zines were (and still are, to a lesser extent) small, independently-published magazines...

Honesty Online: A Modest Proposal

Mark Eden — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 00:46:55 EST

Is it time for an ombudsman?
Burke said there were Three Estates in Parliament; but, in the Reporters' Gallery yonder, there sat a Fourth Estate more important far than they all. It is not a figure of speech, or a witty saying; it is a literal fact -- very momentous to us in these times. Literature is our Parliament too. -- Thomas Carlyle Since 1841, when Carlyle wrote...

Book Review: LIFE Magazine - The Classic Collection

Dusty Somers — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 18:58:13 EDT

When journalism becomes art...
LIFE Magazine will forever be an element of the American cultural landscape. It hasn’t been around as a weekly newsmagazine since 1972, but that hardly seems to matter. It’s survived in various iterations since then, including monthly issues and Internet content, but LIFE seems to belong in a different era – when life was simpler,...

Interview with Nathan Rosen, Editor of MicroHorror

Mayra Calvani — Mon, 6 Oct 2008 19:40:51 EDT

"I believe that a great horror story is made of the same three elements that make a great joke: the setup, the escalation and the payoff."
MicroHorror is a new ezine featuring horror stories in various subgenres -- traditional, modern, gothic, dark fantasy. The requirement? They have to be well written and be 666 words or shorter--talk about a clever gimmick for a horror magazine! Here to talk about MicroHorror and how it came about is editor Nathan Rosen. Rosen shares his formula for...

Interview with Phyllis Zimbler Miller, Author of Mrs. Lieutenant

Mayra Calvani — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 21:04:12 EDT

"I�ve wanted to write this book for 38 years, ever since I was a new Mrs. Lieutenant in the spring of 1970 during the Vietnam War."
Former Lieutenant Phyllis Zimbler Miller is the co-author of the Jewish holiday book Seasons for Celebration and the author of a success guide for teens. In this interview, Miller talks about her latest book, Mrs. Lieutenant, for which she's touring the blogopshere this month of June.Thanks for stopping by at Blogcritics, Phyllis. Were you an...

Interview with Ron Kavanaugh of Mosaic Literary Magazine

Mayra Calvani — Mon, 9 Jun 2008 12:47:13 EDT

"Some authors should never be published and I think it's a reviewer's responsibility to critique to that extent," states Kavanaugh.
Launched in 1998, Mosaic Literary Magazine is a quarterly print publication exploring the literary landscapes of Black and Latino writers. Each issue contains an interesting blend of essays, profiles, and reviews. Its publisher, Ron Kavanaugh, is a former director of the Bronx Writers Center, of Marketing and Public Programs at Bronx Museum of the...

Book Review: How Sassy Changed My Life - A Love Letter To The Greatest Teen Magazine Of All Time by Kara Jesella and Marisa Meltzer

Jade Blackmore — Wed, 4 Jun 2008 07:53:03 EDT

Today's high school girls have Teen People. Teen girls in the late '80s and early '90s had Sassy.
The WWW was still a glow in computer geeks’ eyes, and Teen, YM and Seventeen were the magazines of choice for American girls in the late 1980s. Long after the rise of feminism and the sexual revolution, even several years after Madonna had exposed her belly and bangles for girls to emulate, mags for young women still focused on diets, prom...

Website Review: Vagabondage Press Launches Online Literary Magazine The Battered Suitcase

Stephen Foster — Sun, 1 Jun 2008 17:56:34 EDT

Literary website that means what it says.
On June 1, Vagabondage Press will publish the inaugural issue of The Battered Suitcase, an online "literary magazine that promotes intelligent and imaginative art and fiction." And so it does, if the preview copy available is any indication.Here's the important question, though: aren't there enough of these things - high art...

Book Review: Playboy Cover to Cover - The '50s

Alyse Wax — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 03:15:39 EST

A must-have for serious collectors and casual fans.
Playboy Cover to Cover: The '50s is an impressive box set. The large, sturdy red box opens to reveal an assortment of goodies any collector will love. The highlight of this set -- the main reason for purchasing -- is the digital archive of every issue of Playboy from the 1950s. Every single issue. Every single page – even the...