Stop Smiling: The Last Great Literary Magazine

It's a gloomy, dark scene - in an anonymous room.

The only source of light comes from the amber glow of a lit cigarette.

My love affair with Stop Smiling started during the Christmas of 2004. It started hard and it started fast. Alright, screw this - I don't have the time to get all noir for you. I did see Brick twice this weekend though, which probably fuelled that intro.

Anyways, the point of this post is to promote my favorite magazine: Stop Smiling. Never heard of it? What a shock. In the land of Us Weekly and People, it's hard to believe a print magazine might offer something of value; however, SS provides an intelligent glance into all aspects of culture (art, music, film, politics...). The magazine is so full of articles that it takes me a week to consume an issue. SS feels more like a collection of essays than anything else.

Unfortunately, Stop Smiling is only released every other month, and so the wait between issues is often torture. The time gap makes sense when you look at how much work goes into the magazine.

The world has turned its back on the English word, and I see SS as one of the final survivors (in the magazine realm. NPR takes the prize for radio).

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