Charles Jensen | Writer

Lately I’ve been awash in magazine subscriptions—free, discounted, gifted, etc.—at my home. Here’s a list of what I currently receive:

1. The Advocate
I like to keep up-to-date on what’s going on with my people.

2. Real Simple
I’m a nut about neat organization strategies (although if you saw my desk, you’d never believe this) and I love their recipes. I do get a little put off by their articles on which pumps are fresh for fall—but everyone has to take their lumps.

3. Premiere
I’ve subscribed to this off and on since I was sixteen and reading Rolling Stone religiously. Although I don’t like their most recent layout (too cluttered!), they generally offer artistic perspectives on new films as well as content about the industry.

4. Vanity Fair
People always think this is a women’s magazine, but it’s for everyone. Keeping track of the glitterati in a variety of realms (film, music, literature, politics) is always fascinating and I love their “Proustian Questionnaire,” in which they ask the same 20 questions of various legends like Margaret Atwood and Gore Vidal.

5. Poets & Writers
A staple of my bimonthly reading. I think there’s something important in every issue for any working writer. Yesterday at lunch, my colleagues and I discussed the implications of Bowling Green’s Electronic Thesis Publication requirement. It was hot.

6. Stuff
Okay, and mostly yuck. This is the most hetero-male-centric thing I get, and I only get it because it was free, and let me tell you, I get awfully tired of getting something in the mail with scantily clad women on the cover. Even the agent at my apartment complex told me disapprovingly that he couldn’t hold my issues for me at his desk because the magazine was too risqué. But I do enjoy some of its humor. Not much else.

7. Blender
I love music magazines, mostly because I avoid listening to the radio and I don’t have time to watch music television, so this keeps me feeling connected to what’s new out there. It’s not as scene-ster as Spin and less ambitious than Rolling Stone.

8. Genre
This was one of the cheapies I get. It tries to approach gay culture with the approach of a kind of intelligentsia, but it’s articles on which underpanties make your junk look hottest and sexcapade columns sort of chip away at this.

9. Saveur
I used to try stealing this from my mom’s hosue, so I finally broke down and got my own subscription. It’s an interesting approach to cooking—a little gourmet, a little comfort—and they write a lot about regional cooking and techniques. So far, I’ve cooked 0 recipes from this one.

Honorable Mention: although I don’t subscribe, I always read the Harper’s Index when I’m at work. Fascinating, horrifying, and funny, it never disappoints.