Can I confess something to you? I am studying magazine journalism at the University of Missouri, and until very recently, I was not really into magazines as art/literature. The most intelligent magazine I subscribed to was TIME, but my staple was Seventeen and then Glamour. All my life I have loved magazines for the prettily packaged beauty tips, the identity they provided and the escape. I still believe all of these things definitely have their place. We all need a little escape, a little help choosing the right shade a red lipstick or how to pull off a skinny tie, but over the past two years I’ve been learning how much more magazines can be.
Going to J school has exposed me to the literature of magazines. One of my professors sent this link out. It’s a list of the best magazine articles ever. I can say that in the last two years, I have become familiar with a few of these writers, at least recognizing their names. There are way more on the list, however, that I’ve never heard of or haven’t read at all. I’m glad, however, to see that my favorite writer, Susan Orlean, made the cut. And I have read one of the top five, “Frank Sinatra Has a Cold” by Gay Talese.
I’m looking forward to catching up on some of these recommended reading.
