The Rambler Magazine – November/December 2006

Gracing the cover of this issue is a photograph of Spalding Gray, an actor-writer known for his humorous monologues and who long suffered from depression and committed suicide in 2004. Dave Korzon’s moving interview with Gray’s wife, director Kathie Russo, provides insights into Gray’s life and art, as well as Russo’s efforts to keep her husband’s legacy alive (Swimming to Cambodia; Monster in a Box; Morning, Noon and Night; It’s a Slippery Slope; Life Interrupted, among other books). Regular departments in this magazine include “No Do-Overs” (in this issue, Stephanie Johnson’s at turns hilarious and poignant essay “Girly”) and “Voices,” collecting the opinions of selected people on a certain topic. The magazine’s subtitle, “Your World, Your Story,” is apt, for, like the alternative magazine The Sun, The Rambler solicits works from readers, though instead of written thematic prompts, The Rambler offers readers photographs as inspiration for nonfiction, fiction, and poetry. In this issue, Kerry Jones’s perfectly modulated short story, “So Glad We Had This Time Together,” is the sole fiction selection. It reads so well that were she not writing in the first-person voice of a male character, it could easily be mistaken for memoir.

Gracing the cover of this issue is a photograph of Spalding Gray, an actor-writer known for his humorous monologues and who long suffered from depression and committed suicide in 2004. Dave Korzon’s moving interview with Gray’s wife, director Kathie Russo, provides insights into Gray’s life and art, as well as Russo’s efforts to keep her husband’s legacy alive (Swimming to Cambodia; Monster in a Box; Morning, Noon and Night; It’s a Slippery Slope; Life Interrupted, among other books). Regular departments in this magazine include “No Do-Overs” (in this issue, Stephanie Johnson’s at turns hilarious and poignant essay “Girly”) and “Voices,” collecting the opinions of selected people on a certain topic. The magazine’s subtitle, “Your World, Your Story,” is apt, for, like the alternative magazine The Sun, The Rambler solicits works from readers, though instead of written thematic prompts, The Rambler offers readers photographs as inspiration for nonfiction, fiction, and poetry. In this issue, Kerry Jones’s perfectly modulated short story, “So Glad We Had This Time Together,” is the sole fiction selection. It reads so well that were she not writing in the first-person voice of a male character, it could easily be mistaken for memoir.

[www.ramblermagazine.com]