The Most Famous Magazine in America?
An interesting development for the Atlantic Monthly. After a years-long plateau and a relatively recent redesign that's re-energized the periodical, the current issue is now so rare and in demand that people are selling it on eBay. Two people, in fact.

The September 2002 issue is selling out on newsstands, people are signing up for waiting lists where they buy magazines, and the Atlantic is hustling to issue a second printing of the current edition in order to meet demand.

The reason? William Langewiesche's three-part feature on "unbuilding the World Trade Center." As the anniversary of 911 approaches, the ongoing events since the initial tragedies loom large in the collective consciousness, and people scurry to learn as much as they can. Langewiesche will close the series in the October issue of the Atlantic, which will be released in conjunction with the publication of his North Point Press book American Ground.

I just stopped by the Atlantic offices to snag my copies of the July/August and September issues because that might be the only way to secure these on-fire magazines. Don't look for mine on eBay, though. I'm going to read them. Good to know the Atlantic is no longer a sad second to the New Yorker and Harper's.