Confession time: Many, many years ago, when Tyrannosaurus Rex roamed the planet what I loved about the New Yorker was the cartoons, I paid no attention to the amazing writing.

During the 70’s I lived in NY as a preteen so that does not count. But then I moved back to NY after college in 1987 and that was my first introduction to a lot of great writing like The Village Voice, The New York Times, and The New Yorker -although at the beginning I did confuse it with New York magazine, not the same thing.

After working in Boston for a few years, I moved back to Madrid, where lo and behold, my amazing corner kiosk (read that blog here) carried the New Yorker. Eventually the price made it prohibitive to buy, but I would still buy it occasionally. Once I remember a colleague at my university in Madrid brought in a couple of issues. After waiting a few days, I asked to borrow them, what a refreshing read!

You see The New Yorker has local news of events, which means reviews of the best gigs in the world, whether they be music, theatre, ballet, exhibits, etc. as well as book, cinema, and other cultural write ups. It also has restaurant reviews which of course is limited to NYC. But the real meat are the amazing articles and profiles, deeply researched, exquisitely written, and although heavy on the social justice theme, nicely varied. Recent articles included: the situation with the Safer oil tanker in Yemen, Brené Brown, stash-house stings, Jasper Johns, the glass ceiling in chess, Master Class, and on and on. There is also a humor column called Shouts and Murmurs which is usually hilarious! And there are always a couple of brilliant poems. Add to that an always eye-catching cover and you have a treasure. Every week.

Chapel Hill had a great magazine exchange and I always found New Yorkers to cleanse my palate from all the reading I was doing for my PhD! Now in Florida, I am lucky that my next-door neighbor subscribes, and she generously gives them to me when she finishes reading them, so I am back to enjoying the best written magazine ever.