Every two or three weeks, a junior editor prepares a report on the fortnight’s mail-to-the-editors. It occurs to me that a sample of such a report might interest you. The following was done by Linda Bridges, a recent graduate of the University of Southern California, a major in French literature . . .
Cupcakeable: Lots and lots of letters, all of them nasty [USC-ese for “unfavorable”—Ed.] except two which mention the article in passing, amidst general praise of the Sept. 22 issue, and the postscript of a personal letter from a friend (she says: “Bring Mr. Buckley a huge cupcake with Hershey’s chocolate frosting as a reward for analysis-satire well done.”). Samples of the angry mail: “tasteless trivia. . . . Have you gone senile?” “It saddens me to think a Christian gentleman would consider publishing it.” “That issue of NR would be welcomed by any leering lecher.” “Why regurgitate slime?” “NR is slipping into the slick but sleazy sophistication of the pagan journals. Couldn’t we have more moonlight & roses with violins and harps aplenty?” (So help me!)
Comments