When I was a kid, Mad was required reading. We thought it was funny, clever and probably subversive, though none of us could use "subversive" in a sentence. Sharp and biting, Mad reigned supreme in childhood as my favorite literary escape. The June issue is proof positive that its pleasures remain.

A decidedly non-flashy, you-get-what-you-pay-for title, Backpacker is a marvel of organization, solid journalism of the meat-and-potatoes (or, for the backpacking audience, jerky-and-trail-mix) variety....

Weekend is a lovely concept. It is a lifestyle magazine geared to women with money and time, because with enough of either, you'd happily shell out $2,500 for a three-day dude ranch spree or $212 for an appliqué ultra-suede pillow. This is a world where the lighting speaks of eternal dusk, everyone shops at Williams-Sonoma, and the thread count never dips below 500.