The American Magazine

A joint project of the Magazine Publishers Association and the American Society of Magazine Editors, this handsome pictorial volume focuses on consumer magazines. Janello and Jones, former editors at Collins Publishers, have illustrated chapters written by eight magazine journalists with the photos and artwork of innumerable talents in this history of publishing that is more an anecdotal composite than in-depth analysis. While captioned photographs build an engaging portrait of the influence of magazines on American history, the essays often recall specific visuals that are not reproduced, and recollections of the last three or four decades outweigh discussion of earlier eras. However, many personalities, talents, words and images of the consumer magazines world are brought to life in this 250th birthday present to the industry. (Nov.)