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_______________UNDER THE COVERS: STEADY HAND ON THE TILLEY BY JAMES PONIEWOZIK (02/23/99)
	Just as the New Yorker has been liberated from the depths of Tina Brown and refreshed by David Remnick, we have a media critic in Salon who would prefer to see the magazine attract us by somehow more boldly risking disaster. Forget "sepia," your critic tells us. Burn and take risks, presumably spewing Day-Glo, he seems to suggest. Oy, spare us such media critics -- especially as the magazine is recovering very nicely from the Brown disaster at this time. Haven't you noticed? More pieces can be longer, now, as well as shorter. The magazine has once again become willing to assume an attention span among readers willing to be interested, as opposed to "spun" -- and willing to swap the pursuit of gossip, tinsel and frisson for plain ol' curiosity and reporting, which feels fresher, more lasting and more healthful -- and which sure as hell ought to include John McPhee and Frank McCourt. To tar such wonderful description and reporting as a fussy or boring attempt at literary correctness is to mis-read. Cheers for Remnick! Phooey to your critic from Brooklyn with an eye for tinsel and an ear of tin. -- Ken Pierce
_______________21ST LOG: GIRL GAME PIONEER PURPLE MOON SHUTS DOWN BY JANELLE BROWN (02/22/99)
	Purple Moon's folding should not be taken as "a case of good-for-you 'girl-positive' earnestness falling flat on its face," but rather as a company misconceiving its own target market. Purple Moon's "emotional rehearsal for social navigation" does no more to help girls break out of their culturally encouraged roles than Barbie Fashion Designer. It may be slightly less vapid, but it still presumes that all girls care about (and all they should care about) is pleasing others and being popular. It barely matters if "neither girls nor their parents are going to put up with boys' games in pink boxes" as long as even the makers of so-called girl-positive games can't get beyond stereotypical ideas of what girls want. -- Lisa Miya-Jervis It's really too bad about Purple Moon. I bought one of the Rockit games for my bright, unique and anti-Barbie niece in Iowa, and the Secret Paths game for my younger, Barbie-accepting nieces in Wisconsin and Illinois. The latter was so successful that all have played it ragged. All three of my nieces are also fans of the American Girl series, which was recently eaten by Mattel. We can only hope that the lessons taught by these intelligent start-ups will continue to benefit our girls -- and wish they had been around for us. -- Julie McQuain New York
_______________THE RELUCTANT CAPITALIST: EPIDEMIC OF EXTRAVAGANCE BY HEATHER CHAPLIN (02/19/99)
	Robert H. Frank sounds like a textbook example of a well-meaning academic, proposing solutions that can't be tested before having a gross effect on the economy and, yes, our personal freedoms. You know, life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness? Frank has a well-meaning means to achieve those goals based on lots of studies and wonderful statistics: more taxes, of course. How imaginative. We have a ton of federal, state and local income and sales taxes, all designed by social engineers. Unfortunately, social engineering is not like civil engineering -- most bridges work as designed, but most of these bright, well-meaning ideas do not. Your personal happiness is up to you, rich or poor. Money is a different game. I don't lose any sleep over the fact that there are people out there competing for $18 million boats. You know, it's funny, but I can't help but get the feeling that Frank is, well, distinctly unhappy about some things in life. Maybe he should buy a Jag. -- Bob Lewis SALON | Feb. 26, 1999

R E C E N T L Y+| THE UGLIEST STORY YET BY JOAN WALSH

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