Bookforum

BOOKFORUM is not necessarily a mainstream periodical about books but it does furnish a wide variety of articles, columns, interviews and reviews which will satisfy diverse tastes. It is published quarterly by ARTFORUM INTERNATIONAL MAGAZINE, INC. A recent issue contains articles on Ezra Pound, Albert Camus, Jean-Paul Sartre, Georges Bataille, Murray Kempton, James T. Farrell, Aby Warburg, Woody Guthrie, Valerie Solanas and many other notables from the world of arts and letters. The magazine's writing is uniformly excellent. The contributors are mostly academics, editors, poets or authors such as Guy Davenport, Sven Bickerts, Marjorie Perloff, Lee Smith, Thomas Crow and Avital Ronell. BOOKFORUM is an interesting and engaging publication now in its eleventh year and I expect it will continue to have a devoted following for the foreseeable future.

First and foremost, this quarterly magazine is about art. Coffee table art books finally get the space that they deserve in both the reviews and in the interviews. Next in line are novels and the best fresh fiction on shelves today. Culture, interviews and letters follow closely behind.

Though the top publishers (HarperCollins, Simon&Schuster, Knopf, etc.) get their books reviewed, it is refreshing to see the the number of "small press" and "academic press" books that are also reviewed. The reviewers are from various walks of literary life (a writer, a poet, a Sr. editor, a contributing editor, a professor etc.) and almost always the reviews are engaging as well as informative.

If you like mind engaging writers, or are a fan of coffee table art books, you will not be disappointed with this highly recommended magazine.

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