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.

Backpacker (1-year auto-renewal)

I'm new to Backpacker [1-year], but so far find it to be a great magazine. Here's a little of what to expect:

-info about lots of places to go hiking around the world

-hiking and camping equipment reviews

-hiking skills and tips (i.e. recipes, survival skills...)

Some people may get irritated with the ads, but for me, they keep me on top of the latest useful hiking products.

With great pictures and human interest articles to boot, its one of the best hiking magazines I know of. Also recommend The 5-Minute Plantar Fasciitis Solution if this annoying foot condition interferes with your hiking. Happy trails!

This magazine used to be a great resource for hard core bakcpackers with articles about transcendent survival stories and epic backpacking opportunities all over the world. In the past couple years they have changed their format drastically and have focused on "regional" editions and over the top gadget and gear coverage for total gear-wonks.

Don't get me started on the useless monthly section entitled "Social Climber" where people write into to ask what's socially acceptable on the trail with regard to fashion and things of that nature. You are backpacking for crying out loud...who cares?

It seems to have lost some of its humanity and original vision. I have subscribed to this mag for about 10 years and I used to be able to read it cover to cover, now I am lucky if there is one or article worth reading.

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Like other reviewers have said, the content has gone downhill from informative articles on gear and places to go, to garbage that has nothing to do with backpacking. They sell out to gear companies, endorse shady gear companies ie: Big Sky, and the writing style almost requires you to have a.d.d. to read it ( tons of very short blurbs and "tips" thrown all over ).

To top it off, they have been sending me threatening letters to pay for issues they sent me after my subsription ended and I didn't renew it.

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This publication has gone to an assumed automatic renewal with no choice by the subscriber. Since I didn't agree to this arrangement I didn't bother to respond. The next thing I knew, I was receiving a collection notice.

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Over the past several weeks I have received up to three calls per day from Backpacker urging me to renew my subscription "now!". The frequency and tone of these calls have crossed the line into obnoxious harrassment. A number of the calls have occured minutes after I hung up on the previous call. I am letting my subscription end and am not renewing due to this rude and intrusive treatment from Backpacker. This is coming from someone who has been subscribing to the magazine for well over ten years!

Note that there is no Masthead on the magazine to tell the reader the structure of the organization, nor is there any contact point via e-mail except on the website and that is to Customer Service. I am sure all inquiries to Customer Service are given prompt attention when they are critical of Customer Service.

If this is Backpackers new method of securing subscription renewals, I am better off without it!

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Popular Photography (1-year auto-renewal)

I have subscribed to Popular Photography for about 5 years. I intend to continue subscribing because it has the most product reveiws of any photo magazine that I have encountered. It allows me to keep up with what's new in the way of equipment. Of particular interest are the lens tests. Pop Photo tests most new lenses for 35 mm cameras, which is more than any other source that I know of.

Now to the bad part: I find that the articles that are not related to products reviews are primarily intended for novices, and they are very repetitive. If you've subscribed for more than a year, you will find that many basic subjects are treated over and over again. And I have always been disappointed in the subjects of the articles, which are just very unimaginative. Photography is such a huge subject, with many interesting and idiosyncratic techniques available. There is no need to stick to the same handful of subjects. It's uninspirational, and it's bad editing, frankly. I do like Herb Keppler's monthly column. He's a plain-spoken guy who usually has something useful to say. More evidence of editorial laziness is that Pop Photo essentially puts their annual product guides in the magazine. This means that several of their issues are dominated by pages and pages of charts telling you what is available this year in SLR's, point-and-shoots, film, zoom lenses, etc. There is very little else in those issues. Other magazines put their product guides in a separate publication that is available on the newsstand.

In summary, Pop Photo has a wide audience and a lot of potential, but needs a better Editor. The product reviews and tests are worth the price of the subscription to me, but that is really what the magazine excells at.

I have been a subscriber for a few years and have found alot of the articles repetitive and not all that educational. Recently I have subscribed to Shutterbug which is a much better magazine for both the novice and professional photographer. Its articles are insightful and even after many years they still can teach this old photographer a few new tricks !!!!

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Pop Photo is a good general purpose photography magazine. The coverage of new trends and products is good and the techncial reviews of equipment can't be beat.

There is a tendency for the editorial staff to be combative with letter writers (check the letters to the editor). This can be annoying, and fortunately they've mellowed out a bit over the past couple of years.

Good travel photo column, and the readers photos segement is the first thing I look for every issue.

One caveat, if you're a digital photographer looking for in-depth digital how-tos this isn't the mag for you.

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The Good

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* This is a nice magazine for the price.

* It has some informative articles, which maybe useful to newcomers to photography in general or the digital aspects of photography.

* If you are getting started in photography, or you are at a beginner/amateur level, this magazine can be very helpful as a stepping stone

* If you are an experienced amateur/pro, you can still like this magazine, but don't expect many in-depth/advanced topics.

* The Monthly Lens reviews are helpful to SLR/DSLR users

* For people who like to flip through magazines and even look at ads from different vendors, this is a good resource.

The Not so good

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* The technical reviews of digital cameras are skin-deep compared to the in-depth technical reviews by the online photography sites (such as dpreview).

* Sometimes the reviews are word-smithed in such a way that they avoid saying negative things, so -at timesyou have to pick-up on what is not said in the review in order to figure out if there's something wrong with a product.

* The "News" are 4-12 weeks behind real time.

* If you expect in-depth or pro-level articles, those are rare.

Consumer beware segment

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Towards the back of the magazine there are plenty of ads from various mail-order vendors. Some of them are very reputable, honorable and reliable vendors such as B&H and J&R.

However, some other vendors are less than stellar to put it in mildly. You will recognize them by the too-good-to-be-true super-low prices, and they usually practice "bait & switch" among other things. These have been documented on various websites and photography forums. If you are not familiar with all these, and you see prices that are very low, you may want to do some research before purchasing.

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As a budding amateur photographer, I was hoping this magazine would have good tips and interesting articles. But, instead, there's a lot of product reviews for things that I don't need. It's fine to have one section on products, but I didn't know that's what the whole magazine was about. I have a year subscription, but I just keep throwing the magazines away when they arrive. I don't have the inclination to look through them anymore.

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Bass Angler Magazine

Listen to Mike Iaconelli talk about the benefits of Bass Angler Magazine. When you're looking to catch more bass than just pick up a subscription to Bass Angler after just one issue you will become a better angler.

Zest

Zest is filled with information not found in American fitness magazines. It's funny, cheeky, and wise. Its layout is beautiful and its content is full of information from traditional and non-traditional health experts. It costs more than most fitness magazines, but it's absolutely worth it!