Virginia Quarterly Review

The VQR is high quality magazine for serious readers and those with a sense of humor. Ted Genoways, the current editor, has brought a new breath of fresh air into an old Southern (very traditional) magazine. Now, the VQR has lots of pictures, cartoons, political commentries--beyond just the routine poems, essays, and short fiction. The magazine is very relevant in today's world because it dares to go below the surface. For instance, the current Winter 2008 centers around the moral/political issue of torturing prisoners of war and terrorists.

To those who want something to laugh about, there's always an installment of "graphic fiction" -essentially short fiction in a comic book form. But those comics are not your average Superman stories. They talk about issues of idenity, growing up, and even visiting the South Pole! The Dead Eye comics at the end of each issue addresses politcal issues with same cutting wit and humor.

Over all, the VQR is definitely worth the money. It doesn't have the same snobbery like the New Yorker, but it will definitely make you look and sound smarter.

This is my favorite "literary" review. Although it seems to verge on a current affairs publication, it's much more in depth than most newspapers and, head over hills, better than TIME and NEWSWEEK. There seems to be a theme to each issue--mostly connected to a region or special issue. The current issue is about "Outcasts" and covers a civil rights era kidnaping, the post Katrina Gulf states, and much more. I couldn't stop reading on a recent plane trip.

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Rarely does a university-based journal attempt to engage readers as potential intellectuals and not merely as academics. VQR is such a publication. VQR is striking for its blend of poetry, fiction, political commentary, art reviews, author interviews, book reviews, and--perhaps its most distinctive feature--stunning color photography. Unlike mass-market literary magazines, it does not use poetry as filler in between articles. Poetry, like all VQR material, is given equal time with fiction and non-fiction pieces. When most Americans cannot even name ten living poets, VQR features ten or eleven poets in every issue. That said, I also really enjoyed reading a supposedly lost Robert Frost poem with commentary from Glynn Maxwell. I especially liked the feature on Canadian writer Alice Monroe, including perspectives on Monroe from various authors and friends, in the summer 2006 issue. Of late, VQR has examined post-Milosevic Serbia and the political upheaval in East Timor. If you like bonuses, VQR decided to treat its subscribers to an extra fiction issue in celebration of its winning two national magazine awards. And, again, VQR is visually interesting. You'll find full-page color photographs and art work-a rarity in this type of publication. If you are bright and curious and interested in arts and politics, it would be in your best interest to subscribe to VQR.

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To be absolutely clear, I am a fan of VQR and if I were only rating them here, I'd give them 4 or 5 stars. My beef is with Amazon's advertising "up to 75% off" for subscriptions. I've checked the rates for VQR, Poetry, Writer's Digest, and Poets & writers, and I'm four for four: Amazon's rates are either exactly the same as those posted on these journals' websites, or (in the case of Writer's Digest and P&W) more expensive. It's nice, I guess, that Amazon is providing more exposure for these journals; nonetheless, for them to claim they're offering a discount, while not exactly a lie (since they're offering a discount over the per-copy price), is deceiving, as they don't seem to be offering a cheaper rate than that already offered by the journals. Caveat, as always, emptor.

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I had high hopes for this subscription. So far I have gotten 3 issues and have decided not to resubscribe. Each issue has a portion of a graphic novel inside. If I wanted that I'd buy a comic book. There are also academics writing short stories about academics. The other thing that bothers me is that it has a political slant, in this case left. I don't care left or right, what I do care is that I don't need propaganda.

Stay away.