The September 12 issue of the New Yorker arrived today. The issue features a deal of writing concerning the flood in New Orleans, as may be expected. However, the cover, depicting a sax player on the roofs of the French Quarter, is quite weak by comparison to Speigelman’s amazing black-on-black cover of four years ago, depicting the memory of the World Trade Center. I acknowledge that the New Yorker is by design focused on New York. But seriously, couldn’t someone have picked up the phone and asked him to come up with something that similarly reflects the shock and pain of the nation in the wake of this year’s autumnal catastrophe?
As an aside, New Yorker, will you puh-leeze get with the twenty-first century and at the very least offer Google-based searchability or a consistent linking protocol? I had to hack the 9/11 essay link out of a 404 from a four-year old link on a non-Conde Nast website.
I can’t even remember what the problem was, but Art Spiegelman’s wife quit her job at the New Yorker, and he said that he wouldn’t do any more covers for them. It was in protest over something, but I forget what.
I noticed this too; thought the cover was pretty lame. Some good stories on the inside, though.