Details is a mildly interesting magazine that is geared toward men of various ages and lifestyles. The main group that Details aims to capture is the 17 to 35 yearold male but there are articles in each magazine that could be appealing to men of many different ages, mostly in the middle to upper income groups.
Some things about Details quickly set it apart from other magazines. One difference is the "departments". Most magazines have departments, but instead of talking about the same things each month, these departments vary in their content (the only exceptions being "KnowTell" and the "The Details"). Each one contains similar stories from one month to the next, but with different subtitles, helping to make each issue a little fresher than it would otherwise be.
As far as the writing goes, Details offers a great deal of diversity for a magazine. Yes, it is generally focused on things of interest to men, but it covers a very broad range of interests. You can find articles in this magazine on such diverse topics as the death penalty, raising kids, buying a new coat, setting up an internet business, breaking up with a girlfriend, or purchasing the best vodka. There are articles geared toward single men and married men, as well as younger men and middleaged men.
I like some of the articles found here but there is one problem I have with the writing in Details. It is common to find eyecatching headlines on the cover of Details that tempt you to find out more. This is nothing new and most every magazine does this. But the problem is that many of these eyepopping stories fail to keep you amazed when you read them. Take for example an article in a recent issue. On the front, it reads "Is Your Wife a Bad Mom"? It sound like an engaging, intellectual read. But once you find the article and take in its 1,000+ words, you quickly discover that there is little or no substance. Basically, it simply tells men that accusing your wife of being a bad mom is a risky undertaking that could hurt her feelings. That is it. There is no intellectual analysis or quotes from studies; only the bottom line conclusion that mothers generally don't like to be called incompetent by their husbands. Other headlining articles in this magazine lead to similar disappointment.
The writing in this magazine is on the edge and very blunt. It is common to find several fourletter words in many of the articles and while this doesn't bother me at all, I know that some readers will consider it too raw, too edgy, and too explicit. Details writers have no problem telling it like it is, and this can be both good and bad depending on one's perspective.
Besides the language, some parts of this magazine could offend certain readers; namely the "Anthropology" page at the end. This closing "article" is meant to be humorous, but some readers will not see it that way. I don't know if it has always been this way, but what "Anthropology" does is show a person or multiple people and then asks the question "Gay or ______". For example, I have seen titles like "Gay or Best Friends?", "Gay or Cowboy?", "Gay or Neo Punk Rocker?", and others. With each of these, there is a diagram of sorts with arrows pointing to different clothing and bodily features and short comments about each one. Basically, it is asking you to think about these different attributes of the person or people in the picture and then decide if the way they dress, look, and act makes them gay. I find this silly and immature, but I can see how some readers would find it insulting. I don't know if Details has always done this or if the Anthropology page has been different in the past. But this is how it has been in every issue I have read and it needs to be changed.
Advertisements claim about sixty percent of the pages in each issue of this magazine. They cover products like liquor, cars, electronics, cigarettes, fragrance, etc. Even though this magazine covers lots of different things, the item most often featured in the advertisements is clothing. The magazine seems to have a penchant for high fashion and it devotes more pages to expensive clothing than anything else. And each issue often has its own unique smell, thanks to all of the cologne samples. You can flip through the pages and find several samples in each issue, with many of the latest and trendiest scents from the biggest names in cologne.
Overall, I am torn between liking or not liking Details Magazine. I like some of the articles on food, drink, politics and the like. But I don't necessarily like the shallow fluff that is often substituted for an intellectual discussion and I can understand how some readers would find certain aspects of this magazine insulting. This magazine is deserving of only about two and onehalf stars which I will round up to three stars and give a small recommendation. Some will like this magazine and some will not. It's all a matter of what you like to read about and whether or not you can handle a magazine that pushes the envelope.
I bought a subscription to this magazine because it was a bargain and the covers always are eye-appealing and intriguing. However, I am disappointed with the magazine itself, now that I have been receiving it for about six months. As some of the other reviewers have noted, a huge portion of the magazine is taken up with glossy advertising, most of which is for clothing that only investment bankers or movie stars are likely to purchase. I like clothes, but it would be nice to see clothing lines other than couture advertised. More disturbingly, the magazine seems to have a split personality in its approach to masculinity. Many articles are written from the viewpoint of the stereotypical uber-masculine American male, with lots of references to heterosexual relationships, and other "guy stuff." Yet other articles come off as attempting to be from a gay-friendly viewpoint. I prefer the latter, but I don't see the point in having gay-friendly material when the rest of the magazine is trying to be a go-to guide for red-blooded males. I guess I don't fully "get" the editorial viewpoint that Details (purports to be) espousing. Consequently, I won't be ordering another subscription.
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When I was in high school Details was a pretty cool magazine, lots of cutting edge stuff was featured and for some one who was a dork gave some interesting style tips.
I recently resubscribed and gotta tell ya that I wasted [money amount]. The articles are almost never more than 500 words long, and usually "think" pieces that seem tossed off while the author was in a cab on the way to the editorial meeting.
A lot of pretty ads though...
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Jeff Goldblum's character in "The Big Chill" said that he couldn't write an article longer than the average person could read during a, er, "trip to the library" (wink, wink, nudge, nudge, know what I mean?). The writers at Details seems to have the same marching orders. In these hectic times, maybe that's not so bad. The articles I have read are well researched and nicely bite-sized. I actually finished the entire magazine between PM mail delivery and breakfast the next day. The topics they covered in my first issue ranged from fashion to health concerns. And, again, they cover the topics in very few, well-written pages. I do think the models look like under-fed children but at my age, that could be tunnel-vision (grey hair, I remember Filmore East, you get the picture?). My suggestion, take a look. It's a magazine with an interesting voice and it may be for you.
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Unbelievable amount of ads.
For $5 a year it is ok but do not plan on much real reading material.
A few good reads but unless you plan on spending $3200.00 on the jacket they recommend so that you are fashinoable do not plan on much help with clothing "details"
Completely out of touch.....but on the up side, with all the cologne ads it is the best smelling magazine ever.
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You can buy a subscription to the bimonthly "Audubon" magazine, but the best way to get it is as a benefit derived from joining the National Audubon Society (currently $35/year). Conservation is a central theme of this magazine, but it also has lots of gorgeous photographs of sandhill cranes, snowflakes, caribou, and everything else that you might expect from a nature magazine, although the articles tend toward pessimism ('grim realism' some might say.)
