It is difficult to find a better magazine of opinion than Commentary. Published by the American Jewish Committee, this is an in-depth magazine of neoconservatism opinion with a dash of (not surprisingly) Jewish interest.

Usually of 64-80 pages, each issue contains a lengthy lead article and four-six shorter articles, along with 4-5 book reviews and a lengthy letters section that often devolves into a give-and=take on previously published articles, along with responses from the authors. (This section is great and the debate is often quite lusty.)

Commentary was initially a left-leaning mag with very strong socialist inclinations until ex-editor Norman Podheretz, having seen the errors of his ways, brought the magazine home in the 1970's. Since then, Commentary has been the top journal of neoconservative opinion in the country, a splash to the left of the National Review (what isn't?), but who's counting?

The list of published authors spans the pantheon of American conservativism and neoconservatism: Midge Decter, Irving Kristol, William Bennett, Charles Murray, Gertrude Himmelfarb, Joseph Epstein, James Q. Wilson, etc. The writing is inevitably lucid, thorough, enlightening and well-argued. Topics range from foreign policy, culture, law, and literature. Terry Teachout has a superb monthly column on classical and jazz music criticism. The book reviews are as good as any published in the country. The magazine also publishes much on interests of Jewish concern, such as the defense of Israel and well as cultural issues. As a gentile, I find these articles quite interesting.

Every half dozen issues or so, Commentary will publish a symposium on a topic of current interest, with 500-750 words written by 15-20 authors, mostly rightists but with a healthy splash of liberals.

In a country in which the mainstream press consistently dismisses conservative beliefs as "radical", "extreme", and "out-of-touch", Commentary demonstrates that those adjectives can really be applied to the op-ed writers who express those views.

Compared to the National Review or (moderately liberal) New Republic, the articles in Commentary as less timely but much more thorough and involved. The writing, unlike a rag like the New York Review of Books or for that matter The American Spectator, is never strident. Even if the politics are not to your liking, this magazine (like NR and TNR and, yes, the NYT) is essential reading for the educated American.

buffoonery’s magazine and newspaper reviews:

Wall Street Journal
Commentary
The Economist
National Review
The Nation
Chicago Tribune
Chicago Sun-Times
First Things
The American Spectator
The New Republic
Guitar World
Guitar World Acoustic
Guitar One
Guitar Player



Recommended: Yes