h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: The 'New Yorker' Magazine - 1951-1987: Mr Shawn's 'New Yorker' - A13521133
Author: Leo [can I have one too?] - U519437


This one is 100 words longer than part 1, and twice as boring. Can't help it - Shawn was not an exciting man, and none of the people who have written about his magazine seem to have a sense of humor.

Anyway, I know my brain has been fuzzed by reading too many accounts of this period, and I am unable to discern important stuff from fluff.

I think I left out some totally banal chunks, but I'm sure there's more that can come out or be shortened without causing much pain.

If anyone is feeling brave and wants to wade through this to tell me what, I'd appreciate it.

‘The New Yorker has a longstanding tradition of squalor with which I am loath to interfere.’ >> great quote!

For a small funny (sorry, it's all I could come up with):
It was rumoured that one office could only be accessed by scaling the face of the building and climbing through the window. >> 'While this probably isn't strictly true, it may well have been the /easiest/ way to reach said office.

You refer to S I Newhouse, then later Si Newhouse. Are both correct or is the first a typo?

It is long, yes. But I thought that it moved along nicely and didn't find myself bored anywhere. Nicely done, because I generally shy away from many things that appear too long (judging solely by the size of the scrollbar, yes I know that's cheating ).

If you're wanting to trim, I think the 'Retiring the Oaks' segment may be ripe for plucking, unless it bears relevance somewhere else in the history.

Thanks! (wheee! Someone read it!)

I'll get to it. I intend to reread and rerun the entire thing one day after I finish the whole project. Your feedback is very very appreciated.

His initials are S I but pronounced "Si" and I've seen it both ways. I'll standardise it when I run through again, thanks.

I think only four entries to go...

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Should this whole sentence be in past tense?

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Is it customary to capitalize the adjective derived from the ancient Greek city-state? I'm not sure what the rule is.

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Should this sentence end with something like "the story"?

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The rules of French would suggest that the accent on the first "e" should be grave, not acute. Is it just a pretentious acute accent, or should it in fact be grave?

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This is rather confusingly worded. What exactly do you mean by "telling him he was fed"? It could also lose the comma after "office".

Looking good - the end is in sight!

Changed

No idea either. You're the sub. Let me know.


"not run" ends a sentence that begins in reference to the articles. Since the articles are the only plural in the sentence, I believe the reference to them by "they not run" is clear enough. In either case, I think since the articles are the subject of the sentence, the reflexive is automatic - but if you can say it better, go ahead.


Your French is correct. My bumbling is not.


Fed up. I tried to chop it up, but didn't want to make it much longer than it needs to be.


Comma dropped.

I'll get on to that spartan thing by the time I sub it...

On a second reading I get the "not run" thing. Sorry for being dense.

It happens in editing. Someone suggested that Ross's more bizarre queries happened because he read too many proofs too fast, switching from fact to fiction to humour to seriousness in moments. Once he realized halfway through that he was reading something in the wrong spirit and typed on his query sheet to disregard everything he'd written so far.