I'm going to call this "The Mind-Blowing Issue" because every article in here blew my mind in some way. Most notably: "Postmodernism as Liberty Valance" was so damn smart it blew my mind; "How to Explore Like a Real Victorian Adventurer" was so fun and insightful it blew my mind; and "Meat and Light" was so weird and confusing that it finished the job and made my mind actually blow right out of my head. (To be fair, I think the weirdness and confusion probably came from the author if the book(s) being discussed, and not from the author of the article itself, who was very clear and clever.) And I enjoyed Russell Quinn's centerfold "Fate of the Universe" spread was so much I want to hang it up in my bedroom like a teenager.

The interviews in this issue are the same intimate and insightful quality I've come to expect from The Believer, and I found the conversations with Steve Carell and Julian Gough both gave me plenty of ideas to chew on for days after reading them.

And of course I can't finish without saying something about my favorite column, Nick Hornby's "Stuff I've Been Reading," which took a dark--but always laugh provoking--turn this week. Don't ever leave us, Nick!

Art Issue #85 here I come! ( )