Strapped into my seat on a cross-country flight, I can
indulge in the rare pleasure of reading something worthwhile.
The Oxford American,
produced in that most improbable of literary headwaters -- the great state of Arkansas
-- is packed with thought-provoking, beautifully written pieces that engage
your mind and heart in a way that couldn’t be further removed from the drivel
we are fed by the popular media.
My eye was drawn to this caveat by editor Roger Hodge at the
beginning of the magazine:
“… if you are reading these words you have entered an
aesthetic zone that is as free as possible from the hectoring voices of opinion
merchants and professional manipulators of resentment and rage.”
Writing for its own sake? Not trying to sell something? What a concept. In an age when news broadcasting has become
cynically profit-driven, creating perpetual controversy for financial gain, and
when serious fiction has been undercut by our stressed-out longing to read
nothing more challenging than escapist action adventure, it is a sweet
indulgence to spend a couple of hours with my nose in a literary magazine.
The Oxford American spotlights
Southern culture – fiction, photography, music, the arts – beautifully laid
out, with superb storytelling.
Storytelling has been
central to the way we human beings have understood ourselves and our world from
the time man first walked this earth. It is at the core of all the world’s major
religions. It gives children a universe of experiences, thus enabling them to imagine
the trajectories their own lives could take.
If you enjoy the beauty of a well-turned phrase or the drama
and pathos of Southern fiction or stunning photography of rural America, you’ve
got to check out the Oxford American.
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