If you’re looking for some beach reading and have misplaced your copy of “The Brothers Karamazov,” don’t despair. Besides, when it comes to trying to attract the attention of the dreamy guy in the surf, what do you want to read: Dostoyevsky or dating tips?
Lucky’s advice column tackles pressing issues this month. Q: How do you keep the structure of a big purse when you have very little stuff in it? A: Fill it with workout gear, which is “relatively light, and you exponentially increase your chances of making it to the gym.” Streetwear this fall is all about tomboy looks, with key themes including denim, tweed vests, plaid boyfriend shirts and fedoras. But evening wear is a different story, with bias-cut dresses on their way back. Take care that yours is fit by a good tailor, such that it doesn’t “pooch out in weird places.” Accessories are trending toward all flavors of exotic, with everything from python clutches to rainbow-slicked hologram handbags.
In a sex-saturated world, it has become hard for Cosmopolitan to shock with the racy advice that has been its raison d’etre. In its latest issue, Cosmo does not disappoint by telling its women readers that it’s actually okay to have sex on the first date. But we searched in vain for the “Best. Sex. Ever. 42 New Tips” promised in the table of contents. And an exclusive by NBA player Jason Collins’ ex-fiancée about learning he was gay was less than scintillating. Were we naïve to expect some discussion of their sex life?
Glamour’s music issue was a big hit with us. The most clever feature was about iconic singer hairdos, from Adele to Patti Smith. Red lipstick and denim are two rock staples that never seem to go out of style, but Glamour found lots of new ways to talk about them. Still, our favorite was a fall fashion spread starring Annie Lennox’s daughter Tali, who is now 20. (Some of us remember when Annie gave birth!)
Marie Claire is fun summer reading that won’t make you feel like you’re losing brain cells in addition to skin cells as you lie on the beach. That’s because the shopping/sex mag is good at mixing in the fluff and fun with more serious stories. The August issue doesn’t get as deep as some issues we’ve read, but that’s okay. It offers up a thought-provoking piece on how more and more Japanese youth are giving up sex. The girls say they’re tired of sexism and other complications. The guys say they just want to keep their money, hard-earned in tough economic times, to themselves. We didn’t love the Twitter fan questions used to interview Nicki Minaj, however, and think Editor-in-Chief Anne Fulenwider should not have given in to the “American Idol” format of journalism. Still, the pop star reveals a decent amount, including how she hates her dad and has a kick-ass work ethic, busting it every day like it’s her “first day on the job.”
The cartoon cover of this week’s New Yorker re-imagines the Hampton Jitney as a water ferry for BMWs, Mercedes and luxury SUVs. We found this only slightly less disturbing than a feature on the tumult in Egypt, where street-level reporting yields cinematic scenarios amid the upheaval: “Machine gun,” says an inspector, examining a bullet casing found near the Muslim Brotherhood’s looted headquarters in Cairo. “Foreign-made.” There’s a good piece on the Jersey Shore, post-Sandy, and another on new strategies to prevent domestic violence. We were especially impressed with the story about criminals in England who illegally collect eggs from endangered birds. For many, the bizarre crime appears to be an “unconquerable addiction,” according to the mag.
On its cover this week, New York asks an incredibly stupid question about Anthony Weiner: “Does he even want to be mayor?” Inside, Weiner charms the pants off a reporter and gets a puff piece that’s rather ornate. What’s more remarkable — and a little creepy — is the gawking over his wife, Huma Abedin. The famously photogenic aide to Hillary Clinton is a “stellar woman, who could have married anyone,” Mark Jacobson gushes. “Her brown eyes were pools of empathy evolved through a thousand generations of what was good and decent in the history of the human race… Of course, you’d seen pictures before. But you’d also seen pictures of the Taj Majal. It didn’t quite come up to actually being there.” Whoa, cowboy. We hope Huma doesn’t have to file for a restraining order.
Time puts together a strong package on the mayhem in Cairo, emphasizing that the Muslim Brotherhood is likely to make a comeback despite the ouster of President Morsi. The Islamist party “may now be reeling from the shock… but it will not reel for long,” Karl Vick writes. Elsewhere, we liked the profile of the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton, whose resident geniuses have included Albert Einstein, J. Robert Oppenheimer and George Kennan. With government funds for scientific research tight, some say the think tank is grappling for the relevance it once had. But inside, brainiacs bicker over whether relevance even matters. “Treatment is a nice benefit, but shouldn’t be the drive,” says cancer researcher Nils Baas. “This kind of attitude is a manifestation of one’s own infantility,” retorts mathematician Vladimir Voevodsky.