LETTER FROM THE EDITORS

Dear Reader,

Here, as promised is your content: 144 pages Husky Smooth Book White (both the 50- and 80-pound variety) trimmed to 6.8 by 9 inches, creased, and PUR Perfectbound, unpacked and packed again, bulk-shipped media-mail to your mailbox or to a retail location from where they will soon be refunded at our expense and destroyed as per the affidavit agreement. Essays, stories, poems, letters, art, and art writing acquired and edited and sold against advertising. Some also appear online, although we can assure you that they are not the only pieces available online.

The rights and permissions process is labyrinthine and honestly quite dull; if (when!) you post photos of our content, please tag us, the writers, your friends, their friends, your teachers, your students, your enemies. You know do what feels right.

We would also like to remind you that we are always grateful for submissions. On page 117 you will find a PO Box address to which you can send your most closely guarded regrets, your fears, the notes from your analyst. We will make of it what we will.

Just Kidding, The Editors

WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING FOR?

A little over a decade ago, the government peered into Open Mike Eagle’s brain. The rapper from Chicago’s South Side had seen that the National Institutes of Health was studying live MRI scans of improvisatory keyboard players and, along with a producer friend, he offered to design and co-author a study of rappers as they freestyled. He served as the test case. The findings (e.g., “Lyrical improvisation appears to be characterized by altered relationships between regions coupling intention and action”) were released in the journal

“Through a thorough philosophical accounting of the moral imperatives of living in a globalized society, Butler makes a rousing case for pushing progressive policies as a response to the disruptions of the pandemic. Thoughtful and profound, this hits the mark.”

—Publishers Weekly

“From one of our finest critics, an elegant and deftly argued contribution to our appreciation of the great and glorious Preston Sturges. Stuart Klawans teases out inspired connections in the culture surrounding the director—the books, paintings, and legends that fed the artistry of a man who refused to call himself an artist. The kind of book that makes you want to dive back into the films for fresh stimulation and delight.”

Molly Haskell, film critic and author

“Gibson pushes past both eyerolling dismissals of Franzen and the uncritical accolades of Oprah and Time magazine and takes the novels seriously as complex, if flawed, works of fiction that inspire and reward immersive and close reading.”

Briallen Hopper, author of Hard to Love: Essays and Confessions

“Absolutely fascinating, and a terrific lesson in how to tell good stories. Whether you seek instruction, or simply to know why some podcasts are better than others, this book is for you.”

Olya Booyar, head of radio, Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union

“Finally! I have been waiting for years for someone to give The Last Samurai, the most inventive and delightful novel of the twentyfirst century, the critical attention it deserves. Lee Konstantinou has done it, and he has done it with amazing insight, clarity, and humor.”

Merve Emre, contributing writer at The New Yorker