Redivider – 2005

The magazine formerly known as the Beacon Street Review has gotten a makeover by the grad students at prestigious Emerson College. The latest offering of Redivider is a joyful romp through the peaks and discontents of American pop culture from the fringes to the mainstream. The magazine formerly known as the Beacon Street Review has gotten a makeover by the grad students at prestigious Emerson College. The latest offering of Redivider is a joyful romp through the peaks and discontents of American pop culture from the fringes to the mainstream. Beginning with “Seven Seas,” Rob Walsh’s tale of a politically correct pirate, through poetry musing on reality TV plots and a film director’s production of the Gospels, past a collage of unpretentious art prints and a set of more comical, socially-pointed IQ questions by Fernando Orellana, the trip never turns sophomoric or too burlesque, but it can be a hit-or-miss parade. (The gag behind “Seven Seas” runs for too long; the IQ test teases but doesn’t have enough room to deliver.) But before the burnout sinks in, you find a new vein of creativity you never knew existed. Megan Ciesla discovers “How to Fall in Love With a Gay Man” while bitterly remembering all the boyfriends who have broken her heart, and John Cento has a wisecracking turn as a former alcoholic who takes up golf in his sobriety in “Links.” The magazine changes gears towards the end, featuring an interview with humorist Jincy Willett, a couple of analytical essays on modern poetry and contemporary rock lyrics, and more book reviews than you can shake a stick at. Clearly, Redivider is youth-oriented and likely to date easily, but for all the future curiosities to abound about our current world it would sure make a strong candidate for a time capsule. [Redivider, Emerson College, 120 Boylston Street, Boston, MA 02116. E-mail: [email protected]. Single issue $6. http://pages.emerson.edu/publications/redivider] – Christopher Mote