Oxford American

You can get a subscription for less directly from OA. The last issue (#53) was $4.95 in stores. The previous issue, an annual affair, was $10.00 in stores. Since they only have 4 issues per year, the sale price above is not a sale.

I never read the magazine all the way through, but I do skim most of the articles and read some of them. The reading material, both fiction and nonfiction, is unusual. "Quirky" fits the bill. In one fairly recent issue, I ran across a wonderful short story written as if it were a very badly composed term paper. It was quite funny, even if it was painful to read at times. I passed it around to several colleagues at the university where I teach & they got a kick out of it. Two nonfiction favorites were articles on (a) AIDS in rural Alabama and (b) an architecture professor at Auburn University whose students build unusual housing for the poor using readily available materials. The piece included photos of the housing.

I also really enjoy the annual music issue, which includes a CD. Every cut on the CD is accompanied by a short essay (roughly 2 pages) about the singer. Usually, the music issue will have a mix of a few well known singers singing less well known selections and several singers of whom I've never heard. I won't say that I like all the singers. That's not the point. Exposure to different styles is the point. I also usually discover a few singers that I like & would never have heard of otherwise.

This is a great magazine that deserves a bigger readership. It's only published quarterly but I bet the quality could remain the same if it were a monthly. The current issue, #55, has writing by Barry Hannah, Roy Blount Jr., and Sven Birkerts. Oxford American could become the "New Yorker" for people who hate the Northeast but love good writing. Or you could read both and get the best in American fiction and essays.

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For those that love the South but cannot live there, this magazine keeps you well connected. The transaction was very good. Thank you!!

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I am not happy that there is such a LONG wait for my subscription to get started. Is this a problem with Amazon.com? I've already paid in full Why must I wait two months to get my first copy?

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