Responses to Issue #1
I just checked out your site and it's pretty cool. The only problem I can see with to the quick is the lack of a uniting theme between the articles. Now, I, for one, am not bothered by this, but I know from experience that people are stupid and need to be fed like babies. You gotta dig into the can of food with a spoon then wave your arm around and say 'here comes the airplane... mmm... here it comes!' ... as an artist in any sense you must come up behind them and hit them on the head with a chair in order to gain their attention...
P.S. I would love to see an article analyzing something about the card game Magic and or the phenomena of socially unaccepted guys who play it (don't pretend like you don't know what I am talking about).
-Dustin Glick; Binghamton, NY
Dustin, we at to the quick generally try to avoid hitting our readers on the head with chairs. Still, your point about a uniting theme is a good one, and we hope that in time we will have enough submissions to be able to move towards themed issues. An article about Magic, and even just one about socially unacceptable guys, would be happily read and reviewed. Unfortunately, the editors of to the quick do not know anything about social unnacceptability. -Ed.
to the Quick is a good title, but it sounds more cutting edge than what you guys are presenting. Despite your smorgasbord of alternative lifestyles, interesting lyrics, and media prejudices, it simply doesn't cut to the quick. Putting pop culture into graduate student language doesn't serve to create or disseminate new ideas; rather, it turns even more boring that which originally could hold the attention span of idiots like Britney Spears fans. Academically, I can't complain about the writing. Sometimes it's a little dense. I don't know what the intended audience is. As for the layout, and that back cover-what were you thinking?!
-William Bonney; NYC
In case you all are wondering, this guy is my "friend." -Joe
What a wonderful magazine! I can't wait to see the next one. I was riveted by every article you included, especially the "Minstrelry and gangsta rap" article. I have only one criticism. Conspicuous in its absence was any commentary on the new queen of the entertainment world, Britney Spears. Surely any magazine purporting to analyze cultural phenomena and the media must have some position on the way in which Britney (!) has revolutionized the music and entertainment industry with both her look and her voice.
-Carly Curtiss; Roanoke, Virginia
Carly, the editors at to the quick are of your mind. The lack of attention that Britney gets in the submissions that we receive has made us all downright despondent. -Ed.
This is a response to to the Quick... this is a great idea for a magazine and a very impressive first issue. The article topics were diverse to appeal to different types of people, but I found myself reading about topics I wasn't previously familiar with. And that's another thing, I couldn't put it down!.... I do have a question about the target audience. I found that many of the articles, either explicitly or implicitly, refer to homosexuality in some way. Was this deliberate? It did not seem to be... I obviously have no problem if this publication was conceived with this agenda, my only suggestion would be to make that clear to potential readers.
P.S. Why is everything "über"?
-Melissa A. Bernstein; Norwalk, CT
Melissa, to respond in reverse order, why is everything über? Simply because some people cannot control themselves! As to references to homosexuality in the first issue, they are there because both Nathan Tipton and Sean Desilets sent us such wonderful articles. Gay people in the media (or their absence) is an important issue that we would love to hear more about, but is not the central focus of the magazine. -Ed.
Comments on "Love in the X-files"
Bravo! I have read your interpretation about "love in the X-files" and it is amazing. I have been a fan of the X-files for three years and I thought I knew almost everything about the Mulder and Scully relationship.... [In the sixth season's] new episodes the relationship between Mulder and Scully is more obvious. I think after what happened in the movie (I am talking about their "almost kiss" and its deep meaning) some things had to change, otherwise their behavior wouldn't make any sense.
-Vanessa Zainutti; Buenos Aires City, Argentina
Great page! I am studying The Divine Comedy in my college course and am also a huge fan of The X-Files so everything you said was right on. Scully and Mulder have a relationship deeper than the physical aspect of love but one of sincere beauty like that of Dante and Beatrice. In fact, I am writing my final paper about Dante's meaning of love and have really found your page very informative. Thanks,
-Dave
Thank you! It seems to me, given the mythological and philosophical studies the show always makes of human behavior, only natural that the agents' intense friend/relationship would be dramatized in such a romantically epic way. It certainly makes an interesting lens by which to view even "normal" episodes, how they subtly comment on issues of love and perception-and the assumptions Mulder and Scully make about each other. -Joe
Comments on "The Obligatory Old Book Review"
I loved to the quick. I read Carlos Hernandez's review [on J.K. Huysmans' A Rebours] to my translation theory seminar. (Did he realize how well he would illustrate bias?)
-Marilyn Gaddis-Rose; Professor of Comparative Literature, Binghamton University
All letters and comments submitted become the property of to the Quick, and may be edited and published unless the letter states otherwise. Send or email all correspondence to our address on the title page-we'd like to know what you think!
