Comments on Freckled Citizen: Mourning Gourmet

Very sad. They're no substitute, but try Gast...

2009-10-06T18:53:16.674-04:00

Very sad. They're no substitute, but try Gastronomica (quarterly) or Saveur.

You did an excellent job of highlighting all the r...

2009-10-06T09:13:34.248-04:00

You did an excellent job of highlighting all the reasons Gourmet was such a valuable, original voice in the food mag space. Made me more sad to read your post!

Great thoughts, everyone. And to "anonymous&q...

2009-10-05T21:11:19.600-04:00

Great thoughts, everyone. And to "anonymous" - Ruth Reichl has always had lots of detractors, so your points here are certainly not a surprise. I do think, however, that Gourmet's standard of writing has remained consistent. Take David Foster Wallace's "Consider the Lobster," for instance - it's a legendary piece that is one of Wallace's most-quoted. It was also insanely long by print magazine standards and under another editor might not have made it to print, yet Ruth stood up for it, arguing that someone with DFW's voice and talent warranted the piece running as it was written. I also firmly believe that the political food writing that took off under Ruth's helm was as influential and important as anything that had come before it. In the end, that may well be her legacy.

I used love to peruse Gourmet in my old co-worker&...

2009-10-05T19:13:34.806-04:00

I used love to peruse Gourmet in my old co-worker's office, as she was a subscriber. This is sad.

I am SO furious I cannot sit still. How DARE conde...

2009-10-05T18:19:51.066-04:00

I am SO furious I cannot sit still. How DARE conde nast kill such a stellar magazine, in favor of a piece of lightweight, shallow recipe-ism?

Gourmet wasn't just pictures of food, and recipes: it was poetry and fine prose,beautiful travel essays... and culinary history. It was artistic excellence and philosophical depth. I am a culinary scholar (M.A. in American Studies, foodways) and I have found the writing and research in "Gourmet" to be top notch!

Bon Appetit is just prentious picture
spreads of Beautiful People eating. Food and Wine is too directed towards the food industry. Saveur is full of itself. Gourmet had both
intellect AND a conscience, and their travel articles were astounding.

I am canceling every single Conde Nast subscription I have, immediately, in protest.

"Ruth Reichl. . .and Gourmet was unmistakably...

2009-10-05T15:35:07.144-04:00

"Ruth Reichl. . .and Gourmet was unmistakably hers. Ruth's joy about eating and curiosity about food - from high-end decadence to low-end street food - was splashed across the magazine every month, and it was infectious to read."

I agree and that is why I ended my subscription that I had maintained from 1981 to 2006. All Ruth all the time, everywhere, egocentric, all knowing and condescension ruining what was once a great magazine with articles by M.F.K Fisher, James Beard and many, many more outstanding writers i.e.

Ray Bradbury
Robert P. Coffin
Laurie Colwin
Pat Conroy
Elizabeth David
Ruth Harkness
Madhur Jaffrey
Anita Loos
George Plimpton

Maybe if Ms. Reichl had paid more attention to the history of the magazine and been less relentless in "making it hers" then it wouldn't be shuttered now.

Long live Bon Appetit and Ms. Fairchild.

Well said! You make me want to subscribe... and n...

2009-10-05T14:47:03.145-04:00

Well said! You make me want to subscribe... and now? Well now I'm cranky at the loss of such a treasure.

This is so sad. It's worse that magazines like...

2009-10-05T14:36:48.525-04:00

This is so sad. It's worse that magazines like Cosmopolitan and Glamour get to stick around. Where's the content?

Celebrities sell. Anna Wintour helped Vogue by putting celebrities on the cover. Us Weekly and People are never hurting when it comes to magazine sales. People are addicted to celebrities-- what they're eating, what they're doing, what they're wearing, what they're naming their kids.

Gourmet didn't give in to that at all and hopefully they'll be remembered for it. Domino had the occasional celebrity home feature, but it didn't make it either. So sad.

People pay for crap that they end up throwing away after the 15 minutes it takes to read the entire magazine.

Oh wow- what a disappointment. I love reading Gou...

2009-10-05T14:23:55.500-04:00

Oh wow- what a disappointment. I love reading Gourmet and so this is really quite sad news. It has been quite the year for magazines being shut down- nearly all of my favorites have been closed. And I completely agree with paragraph 2. Such a shame indeed.

Agreed. Paragraph #2 especially hits home. I can&#...

2009-10-05T14:18:14.967-04:00

Agreed. Paragraph #2 especially hits home. I can't believe the crap that stays on the air/in theaters/on the newsstands, when far better and worthier endeavors get canned. Interesting how, at this year's Emmys, a number of folks won awards from shows that had been canceled. A shame!

Very unfortunate. I so prefer to hold a magazine ...

2009-10-05T14:17:09.512-04:00

Very unfortunate. I so prefer to hold a magazine in my hand than read it online-- keeping the online presence is nice in order to look up a recipe every now and then, but its just not the same. I just saw Julie & Julia last night which had me thinking about cooks and cookbook writers as intellectuals and scholars, and the difference between Julie following a recipe and Julia spending years studying it. I think the literary part of Gourmet is what is no longer popular. Sad.

Hi Maggie! A friend of mine posted the link to yo...

2009-10-05T14:13:44.956-04:00

Hi Maggie!

A friend of mine posted the link to your page on Twitter this morning, and while I can't tell you what made me click on it (as I'm not a foor type person at all), I did. I read what you wrote, and all that I can say is that I feel for you.

I know the feeling of, um... well, loss, that comes with seeing an awesome publication come to an end.

I'm a motorcycle and car kind of guy, and it saddens me to see a great publication come to an end, while the glossed over crap remains in every supermarket, B&N, and what remains of the dying book and magazine shops around the country...

I have to say that you seem on point with your feelings and emotion on the subject, and the reason why I took time to stop and write, was to let you know how awesome of a job you did of conveying your feelings on the subject without going into a rant, or bashing the crap out of the other "lesser" publications out there.

I think that's pretty damn cool! :)

Nick

SO well said. there are a million reasons that thi...

2009-10-05T13:39:33.166-04:00

SO well said. there are a million reasons that this magazine has stood the test of time and is loved beyond just the cooking community, but designers, travelers, and humanitarians.

This made me sad. That and their closing of Modern...

2009-10-05T13:17:58.657-04:00

This made me sad. That and their closing of Modern Bride and Elegant Bride as well.

I am with you- get rid of Lucky, which was fun for...

2009-10-05T13:13:33.975-04:00

I am with you- get rid of Lucky, which was fun for a couple of years, and now tiresome. Keep Gourmet! http://spiceandsass.blogspot.com/2009/10/fall-gourmet-magazine-and-general.html