My New Yorker Obsession

I've had a subscription to The New Yorker for nearly half a year, and I've basically been obsessed with it, haha. Their articles are extremely well-reported and provide an excellent template for aspiring writers. I usually try to read The Economist every few weeks, and I started reading other high-quality liberal publications like Harper's Magazine and The New Republic. Thus my transformation into a liberal elitist is almost complete, though I intend to come full circle and try reading conservative publications like The Nation next semester. In any case, I just wanted to make a list of my favorite articles that came out in this year's issues of The New Yorker. I've read great articles in other magazines, including National Geographic, but these were particularly exemplary.

"The Chameleon: The Many Lives of Frederic Bourdin"
by David Grann

This article chronicles the life of a notorious French impersonator, and what happens when he decides to impersonate a missing teenager from Texas. Rarely have I found an article so riveting. It was like reading a great piece of fiction - except that it was all real.



"Up and Then Down"
by Nick Paumgarten

This fantastic article delves into the elevator industry, and disproves some myths (the "close door" button hasn't been a functioning button since the early 1990s, and if you're trapped, there's literally no way to escape) while centering on the predicament of a worker who was trapped in his office's elevator during one harrowing weekend.

"Let It Rain"
by Hendrik Hertzberg

Hertzberg, a rather brilliant political observer, who was a former speechwriter for the Carter administration, provides this wonderfully incisive and witty essay about McCain's choice of Sarah Palin as a political ploy that successfully, albeit briefly, took the wind out of Obama's sails in his post-DNC days.




Making It: How Chicago Shaped Barack Obama"
by Ryan Lizza

This nearly 15,000-word article, by Ryan Lizza, who is a graduate of UC Berkeley, is an impressive feat. The number of people he tracks down for his report is dizzying - I almost wish that Lizza had included a list of names so that I could keep track of them all, and their relationships to Obama.

"The Choice"
I read countless editorial endorsements in the weeks leading up to the election, but it was The New Yorker's lengthy and comprehensive one that really stood out to me. The editors have a way of making insights that may have been touched upon by other news sources sound incredibly compelling. For example, in describing Sarah Palin, "We are watching a candidate for Vice-President cram for her ongoing exam in elementary domestic and foreign policy."


"On a Limb"
by Dana Goodyear

This lovely piece concerns UC Berkeley's very own notorious treesitter, Fresh, who resided in front of Wheeler Hall during the spring semester. It's a funny, outsiders' look into the dilemma, and besides, it's about Cal, so that's really cool.

Favorite Reviews: "Troubled Sons" and "Soul Survivor"

These reviews, of "W.," by David Denby, and "Quantum of Solace," by Anthony Lane, are basically perfect film reviews. All aspiring critics, myself included, probably view these two reviews as the epitome of current film critique. It's hard to explain why, precisely, they work so well. It helps that both critics are incredibly erudite, and that they provide fresh takes on the films, and on what did or did not work for them. The key, I think, is that they criticize without sounding whiny, and it doesn't sound like they take it personally when a film sucks (this is something I'm trying to overcome in my reviews).