Is emdashes actually reading the new issue? Yes, I am. I'm timing it to see how long (in minutes and, if possible, seconds) it takes to read a single issue in its entirely without skipping around, including most of the non-boring ads and many of the Goings on About Towns. It may, in fact, take a week. Check back. In the meantime, a very rough approximation of the current table of contents, whose formatting makes even more sense on the magazine's website—which you should bookmark anyway so you can read those Online Only pieces you know you forgot even existed. I never used to read them either, but that was before I was saved.

GOINGS ON ABOUT TOWN

THE TALK OF THE TOWN
George Packer on the new Iraq; girl in an Arbus photograph; the musician business.
George Packer, Lauren Collins, Rebecca Mead, Ben McGrath

THE FINANCIAL PAGE
Hello, Cleveland
James Surowiecki

THE POLITICAL SCENE
The Upstart: Has Manhattan’s D.A. met his match?
Jeffrey Toobin

SHOUTS & MURMURS
Try These Fun Hoaxes
Andy Borowitz

ANNALS OF RELIGION
Annals of Religion: A Hard Faith: Pope Benedict XVI confronts America.
Peter J. Boyer

PROFILES
The Mummy Doctor: What a scientist learns from ancient bodies.
Kevin Krajick

FICTION
The Room
William Trevor

THE CRITICS

A CRITIC AT LARGE
Tallulah Bankhead’s wild life.
Robert Gottlieb

BOOKS
Briefly Noted
Pop culture and intelligence.
Malcolm Gladwell

POP MUSIC
The Mountain Goats and the Hold Steady.
Sasha Frere-Jones

THE THEATRE
August Wilson’s “Radio Golf.”
John Lahr

THE CURRENT CINEMA
“Kings and Queen,” “Monster-in-Law.”
David Denby

POEMS
"Joe Heller," Kurt Vonnegut [my link; note that poem is in Talk so that, like something by Sparrow, it's marked as No Way Would We Publish This For Real]

"Clouds," Charles Simic

"Dad, You Returned To Me This Morning," Deborah Garrison

COVER
"On Her Way," Carter Goodrich

DRAWINGS
Jack Ziegler, Robert Mankoff, Charles Barsotti, Danny Shanahan, Tom Cheney, Lee Lorenz, Mick Stevens, Bruce Eric Kaplan, Gahan Wilson, Michael Maslin, Matthew Diffee, David Sipress

SPOTS
Philippe Petit-Roulet