GrantlandGood writers (if we should say so ourselves) respect good writing. Grantland, one of our favorite publications, certainly in sports and culture if not in general, catches our eyes with intuition, integrity and irreverence. Print may be in bad shape, but it still feels right to hold good journalism between your fingers (your keyboard doesn’t count). Grantland Quarterly ($20+) — the online publication’s collaborative print issue with McSweeney’s — gives you just that opportunity.
Sports nuts won’t think twice about gobbling up the magazine’s prose; anyone who enjoys a quality read, though, should consider the publication. Grantland loves to explore the social, ethical, and political aspects of athletics rather than just rah-rahing or booing at performances or “controversies” that have been ridiculously blown out of proportions (ESPN should be investigated by PETA for beating the hell out of their equine, which also happens to be stone dead). What’s more, Grantland also covers things entirely unrelated to sports, like this report on Snooki. The year’s three issues include articles written by Bill Simmons, Chuck Klosterman, Charles Pierce and others on an interesting milieu of topics. At the very least, you’ll learn that QBR and ERA aren’t tax return jargon.
Buy Now: $20+