New York Times Magazine just pissed me off...

[davemarc]

> From: Keith Brecher <Keith_Brecher at brown.edu>
> To: MESCOLAR <MESCOLAR at peddie.k12.nj.us>
> Cc: pynchon-l at waste.org
> Subject: Re: New York Times Magazine just pissed me off...
> Date: Tuesday, March 18, 1997 10:38 PM
> 
> Yeah. I read that crazy James Atlas piece and I was thinking the whole
> time: man, this guy hates having to think too hard when he's reading.
But,
> why ruin it for the rest of us. The article should have been called "Ode
to
> Danielle Steele" or something. The hell of it is, GR is not all that
> difficult and "Infinite Jest" probably should not be placed in the same
> sentence as GR and "The Sot-Weed Factor." Now, "Women and Men": that's a
> tough rewarding read and should have been in the slot occupied by
Infinite
> Jest. With regard to the NYT magazine being generally intellectually
> stimulating, is that really true? It seems to me that the Times is more
in
> the business of anointing people and events as being especially
newsworthy.
> Witness the recent cover story on Bruce Springsteen in which we were
> instructed that the bard from Jersey is a sort of John Steinbeck. Oh
> ganders.... 

Well, it still seems to be the paper of choice of P.  Though there's no
denying that this week's magazine section was particularly disgraceful. 
Worst succession of op-ed pieces I've seen in a while.

I did like Frank Rich's piece on Scientology elsewhere in the Sunday
Splash.  But today I read Alexander Cockburn's assertion in the New York
Press that it was "a hysterical column...displaying utter ignorance of any
of the issues involved."  Ah, enlightenment is such a scarce commodity....

davemarc