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Best New Yorker Articles of 1953

Explore 52 featured picks from The New Yorker's 1953 issues.

52 picks · 52 issues · Top author: Dwight Macdonald (5)

Most featured section: Profiles

Featured Picks

Cloudland Revisited: By the Waters of Razz-Ma-Taz
S. J. Perelman · Fiction · January 3

Review of "The Dancin' Fool", an old movie starring Wallace Reid. The writer saw it recently at the Museum of Modern Art. It brought to mind his high …

TO TOUCH AND NOT BE TOUCHED
Robert Lewis Taylor · Profiles · January 10

PROFILE of George Santelli, the famous fencing master, tells how he bacame fencing master of the N.Y. Athletic Club. The Club had invited his father to …

TO TOUCH AND NOT BE TOUCHED.
Robert Lewis Taylor · Profiles · January 17

Second Part of PROFILE of Santelli, the world's best-known fencing master, tells about his activities; and the history of fencing, of which the …

OUT OF THE DARK.
Brendan Gill · Profiles · January 24

PROFILE of Georges Simenon, the novelist. In 1931, when he launched his Inspector Maigret, Simenon decided to give a ball. He persuaded his publisher to …

Long Time No Sheepskin
S. J. Perelman · Fiction · January 31

In the May-June issue of Journal of Heredity (1952) the writer read an article, "The Score of the Colleges". It said that in the last 35 years there has …

Lilt.
Angelica Gibbs · Profiles · February 7

PROFILE of my Gadd, national director of the Country Dance Society of America, a branch of the English Dance Society. During the past few years the …

Nobody But Nobody Undersells Uncle Sam
Frank Sullivan · Fiction · February 14

The writer thinks this year is certainly a good one for bargain sales. He noticed that the government is trying to sell 14 ships, all of which are either …

Spizzerinctum For the Presbyterians
St. Clair McKelway · Fiction · February 21

On a sleepless night, the writer, who comes from a long line of Presbyterian clergymen, sketched his image of the Presbyterian boss. The man had a beard …

Doom Hangs Over William Faulkner
John Bainbridge · The Talk of the Town · February 28

John Bainbridge and Brendan Gill observe the great Southern author William Faulkner as he writes in Random House’s New York offices.

THE SWAN IN THE "MIRROR."
Wolcott Gibbs · Profiles · March 7

PROFILE of Nick Kenny, the poet laurate of the N.Y. Mirror. A minnesinger named Harry Schlacht, had for sixteen years created patriotic essays and poems …

TAX ANGLER.
E. J. Kahn · Profiles · March 14

PROFILE of J. K. Lasser, tax expert and author of several books on the subject. For many years, Vermont had a terribly complicated state-income-tax form, …

The Coming Thing.
Daniel Lang · A Reporter at Large · March 21

REPORTER AT LARGE about prospecting for uranium in the Colorado Plateau. A large part of our uranium comes from the Shinkolobwe Mine in the Belgian Congo; …

THE AMBASSADOR IN THE SANCTUARY.
Joseph Wechsberg · Profiles · March 28

PROFILE of Henri Soule, proprietor of le Pavillon, a French restaurant, E. 55th St. M. Soule was born in a tiny hamlet halfway bets. Dax & Bayonne. He …

THE TOUGH GUY AND THE SOFT, GUY.
E. J. Kahn · Profiles · April 4

PROFILE of Joshua Logan, theatrical director. The Logans' place at Long Ridge, which the bought 2 years ago, came equi ped with a greenhouse. Advised …

The Tough Guy and the Soft Guy.
E. J. Kahn · Profiles · April 11

PROFILE of Joshua Logan, playwright, theatrical director and play doctor. Logan was a graduate of Culver Military Academy, and was determined to go to a …

FIENDISH.
Robert Taylor Lewis · Profiles · April 18

PROFILE of Roland Butler, press agent for the Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey Circus.

FIENDISH.
Robert Taylor Lewis · Profiles · April 25

PROFILE of Roland Butler, press agent for the Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey Circus.

This Is It, Honey
St. Clair McKelway · Annals of Crime · May 2

Jerome Roberts confessed to killing his wife. The truth was different. St. Clair McKelway explores the case.

PIANO MAN.
Bruce Bliven · Profiles · May 9

PROFILE of William Hupfer, tone regulator of Steinway pianos, who has worked at every job a piano mechanic can hold. Tone regulating is more difficult than…

Background for a Coronation
Mollie Panter-Downes · Letter from London · May 16

Mollie Panter-Downes on London’s coronation preparations for Queen Elizabeth II’s big day.

Pause For Reflection.
Berton Roueché · Profiles · May 23

PROFILE of Louis Haft of the Haft Glass Company, Inc on 42 St. just west of 9th Ave. Firm was founded in a basement on Maiden Lane by a Polish immigrant …

LONG TOODLE, SHORT FIGHT,
A. J. Liebling · A Reporter at Large · May 30

REPORTER AT LARGE about return bout between Rocky Marciano and Jersey Joe Walcott in Chicago. Marciano retained the heavyweight championship, knocking out …

The Rocky Mountains of Unter Den Eichen.
Joseph Wechsberg · A Reporter at Large · June 6

REPORTER about Warner Asendorf, a German citizen, who has been married to an American since 1939. He was once a regional leader in the Hitler Jugend (Nazi …

The Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II
Mollie Panter-Downes · Letter from London · June 13

“It was probably the most superb and certainly the most moving one that anybody now living has seen,” Mollie Panter-Downes reported from London, in 1953.

EGG IS ALL
Eugene Kinkead · Profiles · June 20

PROFILE of Alexis Lawrence Romanoff, a Russian-born scientist, professor of chemical embryology of the Agricultural College, of Cornell University, who has…

EGG IS ALL
Eugene Kinkead · Profiles · June 27

PROFILE of Dr. Alexis Lawrence Romanoff, professor of chemical embryology at Cornell, who for the past 30 years has been immersed in the study of eggs, …

THE BOY FROM SOUTH MAIN STREET.
A. J. Liebling · A Reporter at Large · July 4

REPORTER AT LARGE about the George Araujo-Jimmy Carter bout at the Garden. Araujo, is a mohagany lad, the son of one of those sailors from the Portuguese …

IN DEFENSE OF EVERYBODY
Dwight Macdonald · Profiles · July 11

PROFILE of Roger Baldwin, founder of the Amer. Civil Liberties Union, Although a man of socialist leanings, he has never voted for his old friend Norman …

THE DEFENSE OF EVERYBODY
Dwight Macdonald · Profiles · July 18

PROFILE of Roger Baldwin, who was director of the American Civil Liberties Union from 1920 to 1950. The Union's most celebrated case in the twenties, &…

Dog Race
Roald Dahl · Fiction · July 25

An Englishman acquired two black greyhound dogs that looked exactly alike and he worked out a scheme to win a lot of money with them. One dog was a slow …

Tell Him What Happen, Joe, See Will He Believe You
John McNulty · Fiction · August 1

In a local bar, the writer fell into conversation with three Italian boys who had just come from their father's funeral. They told the writer that …

The Perils of Pearl and Olga
St. Clair McKelway · Annals of Crime · August 8

A 1953 story by St. Clair McKelway about two strangers drawn into an enraged ex-husband’s terrifying plot.

THE GREAT BARRIER REEF.
Alan Moorehead · A Reporter at Large · August 15

REPORTER AT LARGE about the Great Barrier Reef, along the northeastern coast of Australia. The Reef and sea betw. it and the mainland is dotted with 600 …

CIT
Dwight Macdonald · Profiles · August 22

PROFILE of George Hervey Hallett, Jr., executive secretary of the Citizens Union. The sort of thing the Union keeps an eye on was the 1952 Board of …

River, Stay 'Way From My Door
Calvin Kentfield · Fiction · August 29

Ira Garrett, 13, looks for his friend V.R., one hot August day in the small Southern town where they live. He can't find his friend but his attention …

WITH THE MEAT IN THIER MOUTH.
Joel Sayre · Profiles · September 5

PROFILE of John Cordes, a retired police detective, the only man in the Dept.s history ever to win its Medal of Honor twice. Cordes was born on Hudson St. …

An International Incident
Shirley Jackson · Fiction · September 12

Fiction, from 1953: Here we were, unprepared, in a sort of ambassadorial role, forced to stand or fall by our reasonably dutiful way of life.

THE GREAT IRON SHIP.
James Dugan · Profiles · September 19

PROFILE of The Great Eastern, a colossal ship built in the mid-nineteenth century. It was the undertaking of Isambard Kingdom Brunel, celebrated English …

THE GREAT IRON SHIP "Nor Forget To Sing of the Wonder"
James Dugan · Profiles · September 26

PROFILE of the Great Eastern the biggest ship in the world at the time of its launching in 1858. Emerson said "There are many advantages in sea-voyaging, …

THE GREAT IRON SHIP
James Dugan · Profiles · October 3

PROFILE of the Great Eastern, the biggest ship in the world at the time of its launching in 1858. In 1862, the Great Eastern, on a voyage from Liverpool to…

IV THE GREAT IRON SHIP,
James Dugan · Profiles · October 10

PROFILE of the Great Eastern, the biggest ship in the world at the time of its launching in 1858. Part IV tells about her 3rd transatlantic cable-laying …

TRUSTEE IN FIDDLEDALE
Joseph Wechsberg · Profiles · October 17

PROFILE of Emil Herrmann, a rare-violin dealer, now doing business on his estate called Fiddledale, in Easton, Conn. He owns what is considered the …

LITTLE BROWN JUG, I LOVE THEE
A. J. Liebling · A Reporter at Large · October 24

REPORTER AT LARGE about attending a pacing race in Delaware, Ohio, called "The Little Brown Jug." Thisis part of the Delaware County Fair, held yearly for …

You Can't Tell How You'll Get Clobbered
John McNulty · Fiction · October 31

In a bar, the writer heard a former Navy man tell how his Navy pal was killed on roller-skates. His pal was on an aircraft carrier that was in drydock …

A FAREWELL TO STRING AND SEALING WAX,
Daniel Lang · Profiles · November 7

PROFILE of Dr. Samuel A. Goudsmit, a nuclear physicist, and chairman of the Physics Dept. at the Brookhaven Natl. Lab., Dr. G. came to this country from …

It Has No Name
E. J. Kahn, Jr. · Annals of Crime · November 14

E. J. Kahn’s 1953 piece about a cheating husband who murders his wife—and everyone else aboard her plane—with a bomb.

THE LAST CONFEDERATE
Hamilton Basso · A Reporter at Large · November 21

REPORTER AT LARGE about a contingent of American Southerners who, in the years following the Civil War, left the ruined Confederacy to make a new start in …

The Love of Man
Anne Sinclair Mehdevi · Fiction · November 28

The writer was expecting a baby when she and her husband moved to a small village in Mexico. She was planning to fly to Los Angeles for the child's …

The Ponder Heart
Eudora Welty · Fiction · December 5

Edna Earle tells about her Uncle Daniel Ponder, who would give away everything he owned if he wasn't watched. He loved people & would get carried away.…

ACTION ON WEST FIFTY-THIRD STREET.
Dwight Macdonald · Profiles · December 12

PROFILE of Alfred H. Barr, Jr., director of collections of the Museum of Modern Art, comments on the Metropolitan Museum's small collection of modern …

Action on West Fifty-Third Street.
Dwight Macdonald · Profiles · December 19

PROFILE of Alfred H. Barr, Jr., director of Collections of the Museum of Modern Art. An excellent example of Barr's showmanship was the exploitation of…

The World on His Back
Charles Wertenbaker · Profiles · December 26

Charles Wertenbaker on the lean, dark, and handsome CBS newsman who covered the McCarthy hearings.

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