An issue on middleness, which starts out—of course—with an essay on USA Today and the theory behind that colorful newspaper. Then: Ben Metcalf seethes at the Mississippi River. Paul Maliszewski confesses to the Swiftian fabulism he practiced while working as an editor at The Business Journal of Central New York. Tom Vanderbilt explores a California ghost town that has become a federally subsidized film set. Dan Kelly lunches with Rotarians. Kim Phillips-Fein explores the bankruptcy industry and the morality of indebtedness a full ten years before these issues dawned on the rest of the nation. Marc Cooper remembers where he was on September 11, 1973. Also: an entertaining epistolary exchange between Chris Lehmann and Michael Berube.
Publication date: Summer 1998
Pages: 128 pages