On a holiday weekend, thoughts turn inevitably* to the stack of magazines teetering precariously on one’s coffee table. I didn’t even finish the back-issue winnow of a few months ago and it’s clearly time for another one, which got me thinking: if I had to pick one magazine to take/have sent to a desert island, based on its true-crime content, which one would I pick?
Is it The New Yorker, home of David Grann, Tad Friend, Casey Cep, and other authors and pieces I reread over and over? Is it New York, where Bob Kolker alone has written so many excellent articles? Texas Monthly, whose Colloff/Hollingsworth archive has filled many an afternoon? Vanity Fair, Eve’s pick — and an extremely solid one? One I haven’t mentioned, like maybe The Chicago Reader, whose review of the documentary about Frederic Bourdin is illustrated by the graphic above?
Now that I’m writing all this out, this decision is a tougher one than I’d anticipated and I’m glad I don’t actually have to make it! But if I did, I’d go New Yorker. (And only partly because of how many of their cartoons feature desert-island gags.)
Texas Monthly for me, although I love reading all of the others you mentioned. In the early 2000s, my friend bought me a subscription to Texas Monthly. I hadn't heard of it back then. I was amazed by how good it was. I've considered re-subscribing, but I'm terrible at keeping up with periodicals and have a bit of a paper / book / magazine hoarding issue.
While I love me some Texas Monthly (indeed, I feel at times it’s the only redeeming thing in this state where I live - okay, that and Tex Mex) and there is nothing better than their Darlie Routier coverage, I think I’m going to have to go with VF. Dominick Dunne and Maureen Orth (plus some really good fashion coverage) would tug me away from my no-bull Texas Monthly. Plus, I would probably delve into my archives of the late, lamented Spy magazine. They covered the adventures of a certain “short-fingered vulgarian” in some stylish depth.
Texas Monthly for sure. It was a mainstay of my youth. My dad grew up in Texas and for decades after he moved away, my grandmother gifted us an annual subscription. It is one of the few magazines I remember always having around our house. So it has sentimental value as well as some of the very best long-form true crime writing in history.
I'm edging towards NY Magazine, but then there is nothing like a NYer longread of immaculately presented detail... feel I need to shout out the Daily Beast, their longform is by far the best thing they do.
A digression: Longform.org or Longreads?? (Or Digg or the Electric Typewriter or...)
Most/many of the true crime stories that have stayed with me are from Texas Monthly, so it comes to the island with me for when I want to be emotionally destroyed.
Texas Monthly for me, although I love reading all of the others you mentioned. In the early 2000s, my friend bought me a subscription to Texas Monthly. I hadn't heard of it back then. I was amazed by how good it was. I've considered re-subscribing, but I'm terrible at keeping up with periodicals and have a bit of a paper / book / magazine hoarding issue.
Mine would definitely be Vanity Fair, mostly thanks to the ID series.
While I love me some Texas Monthly (indeed, I feel at times it’s the only redeeming thing in this state where I live - okay, that and Tex Mex) and there is nothing better than their Darlie Routier coverage, I think I’m going to have to go with VF. Dominick Dunne and Maureen Orth (plus some really good fashion coverage) would tug me away from my no-bull Texas Monthly. Plus, I would probably delve into my archives of the late, lamented Spy magazine. They covered the adventures of a certain “short-fingered vulgarian” in some stylish depth.
Texas Monthly for sure. It was a mainstay of my youth. My dad grew up in Texas and for decades after he moved away, my grandmother gifted us an annual subscription. It is one of the few magazines I remember always having around our house. So it has sentimental value as well as some of the very best long-form true crime writing in history.
I'm edging towards NY Magazine, but then there is nothing like a NYer longread of immaculately presented detail... feel I need to shout out the Daily Beast, their longform is by far the best thing they do.
A digression: Longform.org or Longreads?? (Or Digg or the Electric Typewriter or...)
Most/many of the true crime stories that have stayed with me are from Texas Monthly, so it comes to the island with me for when I want to be emotionally destroyed.