Customer Reviews

The Complete New Yorker: Eighty Years of the Nation's Greatest Magazine

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I've loved THE NEW YORKER since I was a kid-let's not talk about how long ago that was . . . at any rate, I HAD to get this. Sure, there were/are times when I don't agree with their tastes-some of the short stories-but overall they do a bang-up job and are one of the last "literary" magazines around. The operational logistics are a little clumsy: a constant swapping of DVDs is required to operate this time machine. And since the images are scanned replicas of the original magazines--to the credit of the creators of this collection--the time required to print out a complete edition (or even a lengthy article) is considerable. But these are minor cavils; just be thankful, and a little amazed, that the publishers of the New Yorker have given us this unparelleled opportunity at such a reasonable price. The cover art for The New Yorker has long been famous, and it is quite enjoyable to see people in the high class jazz age as they saw themselves in wonderful art deco full color. I'm normally one for strict literary fiction---the long kind, not short stories----such as Steinbeck's "East of Eden" or McCrae's "Katzenjammer," but when I saw this amazing collection, I had to have it. You will too.

I could hardly believe it when the release of the Complete New Yorker was announced. Here was my chance to read everything written in what is, arguably, the magazine that defined great American writing in the 20th century. Everything by Janet Flanner, Andrew Porter, Annie Proulx, Mavis Gallant, Pauline Kael and the list goes on; Charles Addams, Gaham Wilson and all the other great cartoonists; and the incredible cover art. Plus all those great ads for tony places, highclass stores and expensive knick-knacks. I thought: May as well lock myself in the study with my pc for the next 20 years.

And it is all there - what I didn't count on was the problems I've been encountering with the programme. Issues not loading, system freezes, DVD discs that can't be read, fatal error pop-ups. I have checked to make sure I have all the required RAM etc and everything else seems to be running fine on my system so I have to conclude that it is the programme itself. Its almost as if this product was issued without beta testing. I have reinstalled it twice now and still the problems persist. I am tempted to send everything back and ask for a refund.

I am bitterly disappointed.

Excellent production. The reader can follow the development of The New Yorker from its inception through its various editors, including the first six years of the current editor, David Remnick. One gains a better appreciation of the various time periods and a context for articles one becomes interested in. It is a great addition to a home library and takes the place of many shelves of bound volumes. One traces the booming twenties, the Depression, World War II and the post-war world, the personalities and the social issues. Not perfect but many articles stimulate in the most unexpected ways. I believe the current editor has managed to consolidate many of the best aspects of New Yorker journalism and expand into new areas. Moreover, a compendium such as this can serve as a useful reference when one takes into account the in-depth profiles of personalities and historical events. Also, it enables the reader to gain a perspective on the mood of long-ago events that enables today's researcher to better understand the time period in which these did take place. Enjoyable reading and an excellent resource.

It turns out that the New Yorker collection is not compatible with some DVD drives, something you don't find out until you try to install it. Communicating with technical support is hopeless. When you load the "install" disc into your hard drive, nothing happens. But the system freezes up, and the disc drive door won't open. Technical support offers fixes such as "try inserting another disc," and see if that one works.

I have $100 worth of junk sitting next to my computer, and I don't even know how to get my money back. (Technical support doesn't mention that)

I had the same problem with the Rolling Stone Archive. Nothing is wrong with my computer; my DVD drive works fine. On anything but New Yorker. Maybe the program is too upper crust for my lowly Windows XP.

- The Nation's greatest Sucker