My Scummy Valentine
The only thing worse than Valentine's Day is a crappy Valentine's Day. A handful of TMN writers and editors dish (anonymously) on their worst dates—crying men, rugby brawls, and a dislocated sacroiliac joint.
From Beyond the Grave
Convinced his wife was buried by mistake, a widower insists on unearthing her body. What happens when they open the coffin? As is our Halloween ritual, TMN writers share their own endings to the story.
The Pyongyang Papers
North Korea’s intentions are unknown for the moment. But its memos are, at the very least, straightforward. The TMN staff uncovers a worldwide exclusive: internal documentation of the DPRK’s plans for the remaining calendar year.
The Missing Bride
A bride disappears on her wedding day, never to be seen again—or will she? Continuing a grand TMN Halloween tradition, our writers and editors craft new endings to a familiar tale.
The Monkey's Paw
A foreign talisman holds great power, but those who use it do so at their peril. In the grand TMN tradition of celebrating Halloween, our editors and writers create new endings to a well-known scary story.
Columbus to Cambria and Back Again
From coast to coast, through bickering passengers and aggressive tumbleweeds, we've crisscrossed the U.S.--and often ended up in New York. For your next road trip, a guide to what you'll see along the way.
The Greatest Book Review Ever
Not everyone can be a judge in the Tournament of Books. Not every novel deserves a rave. But what if the world’s best books were reviewed all at once? The ultimate Frankenstein of reviews.
Liner Notes 2010
In our Crowdsource series, we tap the masses' wisdom for your entertainment. This week, TMN readers and staff shout-out to those who made their year.
The Products We Hate
Introducing a new series, "Crowdsource," where we tap the masses' wisdom for your entertainment. This week, TMN readers and staff explain which products the world should destroy.
The Green Ribbon
A dying woman asks her husband for a final favor. What will happen when he loosens the ribbon around her neck?
Dead People You Wish Twittered
Maybe death preceded the technology. Maybe they would deliver profundity in 140 characters. Maybe it's David Foster Wallace. We tell who'd they follow into the afterlife.
The Hot Jam of Forever
Each summer, certain songs are unofficially recognized as those that fill dance floors, roll down windows, and in general get this party started. Our staff and readers recall the best music from their best summers.
It's Only Pretend
Labor Day is coming soon, and along with it the start of school. But the TMN writers' children still have a little August reading to do, in this final installment of their book reports.
Part-Time Knowledge
The worst summer employment is a three-month slog. But sometimes even temporary jobs offer permanent lessons. Our staff and readers share what they’ve learned.
Let's Make It Better
Summer yawns ahead, hot and school-free. What better way to spend the afternoon than with a book? The TMN writers' children fill us in on their latest reads and rethink the endings.
Fantasy Road Trips
If gas was free, vacation days were unlimited, and your schedule was as open as the road ahead, where would you go? Our staff and readers unfold their maps.
The Seven-Cent Advance
For most of us, assigned summer reading is a distant memory. For the TMN writers' children, however, it's time to crack the books--and inform us about scary bits, cover designs, and authors' advances.
Bad Trips
We asked our staff and readers to rewrite the end of Lost. Spoiler alert! But not really, when you consider you'd have to flash-sideways to experience the alternative realities ahead.
Travel Tips We Learned the Hard Way
As we carve out weekends for summer vacations and welcome loved ones home from across the volcanic ash-strewn pond, our staff and readers share their hard-earned trip advice.
Preferred Patio Beverages
As the weather warms and we retreat to our patios, roofdecks, and lanais, our thirst increases. Our staff and readers share their favorite outdoor drinks.
Favorite American Presidents
Often, our most revered presidents earn our appreciation more for their chutzpah than their politics. Recovering from Presidents Day hangovers, our staff and readers share their favorite commanders-in-chief.
Cures for the Common Cold
As we spelunk into the depths of winter, we felt the time was ripe to rearm our medicine cabinets. Our staff and readers share their remedies for colds, flus, and related maladies.
New Year's Realizations
Before tackling our shortcomings in January, we thought it would be good to celebrate the year in personal bests. Our staff and readers share their proudest moments.
Untraditional Traditions
Year after year, it's the unique ways we celebrate the holidays that make them worth celebrating. Our staff and readers share their uncommon customs.
The Babysitter
The kids are asleep upstairs, and the sitter waits alone in a darkened house--and then the phone rings. If you think you know what happens next, think again.
First Scary Movies
You can sleep with the closet light on, you can crawl into your parents' bed, but you can never forget your first truly frightening horror movie. Our staff and readers agree.
Frugal Krueger
Experts answer what they know. The Non-Expert answers anything. This week we help a reader in need of creative, recession-friendly Halloween costume ideas.
Beloved Children's Books
With the imminent release of the Where the Wild Things Are movie, we're swept up in childhood literary nostalgia. Our staff and readers tell us what filled their tiny bookshelves.
Superpowers, Revealed
It's a bird, it's a plane, it's...someone who can divide a dinner bill five ways! Sometimes the best abilities are the ones the world can't see. Our staff and readers share their talents.
When the Lights Went Out
At 4:15 p.m. on Aug. 14, 2003, tens of millions of people across the Northeast and Midwest U.S. and Ontario were suddenly without power. Our staff and readers tell us what happened next.
It's a Conspiracy
With the anniversary of the "moon landing" and the continued clamors of the birthers, conspiracy theories are in the news again. Here are our favorite shadowy plots.
Favorite Worst Movies
Summer movies tend to crush box-office records, dumbfound critics, and be terrible. Our staff and readers tell us about the movies they know they shouldn't love.
Viva Print
As the industry stands ready to pulp entire newsstands, devotees of periodicals refuse to give up on their first love. Our readers and writers extol their favorite ink-based publications.
Your Favorite Thing About the Recession
Times are tight--but must they necessarily be bad? We asked our readers and writers to find the upside to the downturn.
One Spring Day
As winter wanes, everyone grows tired of the cold and damp, whether they live in San Francisco, Austin, or London. A day in the life of TMN's editors and writers on the first day of spring.
People I Wish I Knew
We asked: "Who are your would-be acquaintances, your potential best friends, your maybe-someday muses?" With hopeful associates living and dead, renown and unknown, the TMN readers and writers respond.
Broken Resolutions
Three weeks ago, you swore you'd stop smoking and start running. So far, you've only jogged to the bodega. The TMN READERS AND WRITERS know your shame, and confess their lack of resolve.
2008
From unearthed media to otherworldly technology to reflection on a personal and economic level, the year was filled with things of every shape, size, and significance. THE WRITERS give us the best of what they noted.
Our 2008 Holiday Letter
No matter how factual the accomplishments gained or the tragedies sustained, holiday letters, like the season itself, are often sugarcoated. But not this time.
Guilty Reading
Whether it's political nonfiction, extraterrestrial erotica, or some combination thereof, we hold our genres dear. The TMN readers and writers reveal their favorite works from the back of the shelf.
Fall Food
From wild mushrooms to alcoholic tea, Thanksgiving casseroles to the perfect pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, here are the TMN writers' favorite foodstuffs for autumn.
The Roommate
A woman stops by her dorm room late at night. Careful not to wake her roommate, she never turns on the light. The next morning, she returns to find the police at her dorm. What happens next?
Boats We Missed
From acclaimed television series to all-over-your-radar bands to the website even your grandmother knows about, here are the phenomena that the readers and writers, until recently, missed out on.
The Hot ______ of the Summer
In times of respite, the mind settles, focusing on what's really relevant. Here are the TMN readers' and writers' hot picks: the jam that fueled parties all summer long, the show we turned down the A/C to hear, and more.
Staycations
When vacating isn't an option, you could always consider a holiday in your own vicinity. The TMN readers and writers offer travel tales from lands closer to home.
Ways We're Saving Money
As the price of everything hikes higher and higher, thrift is fast becoming an essential life skill. The TMN readers and writers tell us how they're beating the high cost of living.
Vacation Destinations
With Memorial Day just around the corner, our thoughts are turning to getting the heck out of town. Where to? Well, the TMN readers and writers have some recommendations.
Things We're Denying Ourselves
A recession looms at the door--before it arrives, we have an opportunity to improve our minds, bodies, and wallets. Though we may soon be denying ourselves more than pleasures, this is what we're omitting right now.
The Last Great Thing You Downloaded
From movies to music to graphic novels and Spanish lessons, here are some of our recent digital world discoveries, as downloaded by our writers and readers.
Movies for What Ails You
It's winter, and chances are you're sick or you're about to be. Even though you may feel like you'd rather curl up and die, we recommend curling up with a good movie instead--and the writers' answer to most ailments is Jimmy Stewart.
Exercise Gear
How many fitness-inspired New Year's resolutions does it take to beat down the average individual? How many recommended items of exercise paraphernalia from the writers does it take to rebuild one's spirit? The answer is: never enough.
Hangover Cures
Robert Benchley once quipped, "The only cure for a real hangover is death." Though ultimately true, right now there are holiday parties to attend. The writers offer solutions for the morning after.
Online Merchants
'Tis the season of Amazon and Zappos, but what about those web merchants with more rare offerings, or services you didn't know were available online? The writers offer a few of their current favorites.
The Backseat Killer
A maniac is chasing an innocent woman. She gets home and runs to her house, just as the pursuing car screeches in to the driveway. How will it end?
Nonfiction Books
You've stocked up on bookmarks, ordered the bookplates, and now you're ready to fill the shelves. Next time you're shopping, pass over the fiction and pick up something with an index. The writers offer a selection.
One Day on the Internet
In a world that revolves around email addresses and instant messages, much human interaction comes in bits and bytes. We spent a day keeping track of our keystrokes around the globe.
Fall Fashion
You've heard from Marc Jacobs, Proenza Schouler, and Chloe Sevigny on what to wear this season. Now it's our turn. The monthly round-up from the writers on what appeals, this time from their closets.
Bottled Drinks
With Labor Day gaining fast, summer is almost over. Rather than mourn its demise with a sack of hooch, we should toast our memories with a bottle of something special. The writers have some suggestions.
Crepes vs. Enchiladas
As mentioned in last week’s features, “Sacrifice” and the first “Letter From Paris,” TMN chiefs Andrew Womack and Rosecrans Baldwin are currently traveling away from New York to their other loves, Austin and Paris, respectively. As an exercise in sharing their new homes with each other—cities that the
What's the last song you heard?
We emailed our staff: “What’s the last song you heard? Respond immediately.” They wrote back: “Some Starbucks shit.” And then they wrote back some more. “Building a Mystery” by Sarah McLachlan XM radio is always on where I work. And more often than not it’s set to the
Our Quarterly Review
The book’s closed on the first three months of 2007, which makes now as good a time as any to take stock of the quarter that’s just ended. Here are our favorite tracks from the year thus far. * * * Rosecrans Baldwin “Fake Empire” by the National The digital revolution
What's Your Resolution?
The confetti's been tossed, the funny hats are crumpled in the corner, and at least three of us had a little too much champagne.
Our Favorite Tracks of 2006
Rosecrans Baldwin’s Favorite Mp3s of 2006 “Ain’t No Other Man” by Christina Aguilera I think I’ve several times performed dance routines to this song. » Listen to “Ain’t No Other Man” “Smile” by Lily Allen Why don’t other seasons get songs? The summer afternoon party anthem.
This Is Not a Eulogy
This is an appreciation. Our friend, writer, editor, and teacher Leslie Harpold recently died. A memorial for a woman who was difficult to describe--and who couldn't stand sentimental bullshit.
Our Favorite Gifts
The most meaningful gifts are so personal they cannot simply be plucked from the shelves of a store--but sometimes we need a little help. Turning holiday inspiration into shopping salvation, the writers recall their fondest gift memories.
Potluck Supper
The best Thanksgivings are the ones where all the guests bring their own specialties to the table. We serve up our best, potluck-style.
The Vanishing Date
Halloween: time for stories of headless horsemen, escaped psychos with hooks for hands, and ghosts other than the white-sheet variety. But the same stories year after year can get a little dull.
What We Said
Amid the chaos of Sept. 11, 2001, we sought human contact--to speak and to listen. Five years later, we remember what we said.
One Day in New York City
June 1 dawned humid and hot. The forecast: a high of 84 degrees and possible late-day thunderstorms west of town. But forecasts--for the temperature or for a busy day of work and play--aren't all they're cracked up to be.
May 2006
It's the last Wednesday of the month, so it's time for another episode of what the writers have recently been loving: restaurants in California, television in Japan, vitamin-laced candy, and more.
A Word of Advice
’Tis the season of graduation ceremonies, when many will be told it’s the first day of the rest of their lives. We offer the ultimate commencement speech.
April 2006
It's the last Wednesday of the month, so it's time for another page of what the writers have been watching, reading, eating, hearing, quaffing, and loving oh so much.
For March 2006
A new month of what the writers have been watching, reading, eating, drinking, hearing, and enjoying.
Brushes With the Law
Who knew what evil once lurked in our hearts? Arsonists, accomplices, troublemakers all, here are nine lives of crime, cut short.
For February 2006
What the writers have been enjoying, watching, reading, hearing, eating, viewing, and digesting for the past 28 days.
Our Faded Summers
It may be something in the sunscreen, but funny things happen during summer: dehydration, Lyme disease, brief romantic flings. Collected writings of love lost and won (but mostly lost).
For Spring 2005
The stuff we're into right now--including what we're reading, hearing, watching, finding, eating, using, installing, applying, and, yes, even scratching this season.
For Fall 2004
Books, movies, shows, albums, artists, clothing, writing instruments, online "services," ways to cook, things to eat, and more things to digest.
If on a summer's vacation...
Now past the halfway-mark for summer, we’ve all either taken our summer vacations or we’re still planning where to go. For those of us who fall into the latter camp, beware your choices. THE WRITERS remember ways summer vacations have gone so horribly wrong.
For Summer 2004
Of interest lately are special books, catchy songs, lovely clothes, and a slew of other wonderful items we've collectively enjoyed the last few weeks, and now wish to pass along for your very own summer pleasure.
Children’s Music
We've seen their drawings of Radiohead songs, they tell us the Strokes make their heads hurt "like 100 dogs," but how do we feel about their songs? A panel listens to children's music, weighing in on the state of the pint-sized.
The Man Who Was Hook
Nothing says Halloween like a gutted teenager, or some other urban legend told around the candy bag. But hasn’t everyone already heard the ending? THE WRITERS band together for a dozen new ways to finish your story.
Santa Claus
Experts answer what they know. The Non-Expert answers anything. This week we determine once and for all the existence of Santa Claus.
Scary Stories
In celebration of Halloween, we've asked all the Contributing Writers to share a scary story. Here then, seven ways to get freaked out.
Accounting for Taste: Exo, Say Hello to the Master Siege Control
Four TMN writers get their paws on something and give their reviews. This time it's an album from Chicago band Exo, selected by Kevin Guilfoile.