American Magazines in the UK

We would like to talk to you if we may (don’t feel pressured to read this, you can always wander away and watch a video of a cat, after all that’s what the internet is there for) about America. And, more specifically American magazines.

Now, there are a lot of things that can be said about the good ol’ USA, both positive and not so positive. For the perfect example of both of these one need look no further than the cheeseburger, and its subsequent effect upon the world. Delicious yet deadly. We plan to stay away mostly from any contentious topics such as politics, though we definitely support that bloke in the upcoming elections, or maybe the other one. Well, definitely not the who is secretly a lizard-man from the darkest depths of the earth, or the fellow who is actually three midgets in a coat. Anyway, where were we… Ah yes, American magazines.

We pride ourselves on the vast range of magazines that we can stock. Fancy a Dubai based visual arts magazine? Well, Desert Fish may be just what you are looking for. Feel the need to know more about Scandinavian weaving? We’ve got you covered. However, a lot of you are going to come to our site wishing to purchase some excellent American publications. For some bizarre reason a great many of the august publications we stock don’t seem to have any interest in selling themselves overseas. Now this would be the point where we would interject a cruel joke suggesting that many Americans aren’t aware of overseas, if we weren’t such nice people. (to any Americans reading this, my sincerest apologies for such words, there is no malice behind them).

Quite why they don’t value the rest of the world’s custom is beyond us, but we are valiantly filling that breach by offering you a breathtaking array of excellent American mags (cunningly hidden in the foreign language category – not a snide comment, more just an amusing coincidence). No, no need to thank us.

We can boast the likes of Martha Stewart’s Living – a home magazine covering food, interiors, crafts, home design and more, from perhaps the most lovable ex-con in the world - and Vogue USA, as well as the ever popular People magazine that has all the celeb gossip you could ever need – and probably quite a bit more besides. If you like your football of the ‘large men wearing padding and running at each other’ variety, then we’ve got several different titles that may take your fancy.

Entertainment Weekly is perhaps one of the biggest titles we stock, and we love the glimpse it gives us into what is going on in the world over the other side of the pond. Fangoria brings you the world of Horror as you have never seen before. Enjoy watching astonishingly tall men throwing balls into hoops? Hoop NBA and Slam magazine might be your thing.

These are all good and well, and some of them are actually rather fantastic, but they pale in comparison to our favourites. And yes, that’s spelt favourites with a ‘u’, despite what my computer is amusingly trying to tell me.

Third place goes to the niche yet endearing Atomic Ranch, a mag solely devoted to recapturing the retro-future vibes of the 50’s in interior design.

In second spot is Beer Magazine (not to be confused with the Camra publication which is of course known on our site as Beer magazine, with a little m), due in no large part to the subject matter; a look at the micro-breweries that are springing up across the states. Well worth a read.

The winner, however, by a distance, is the fantastically named Culture magazine, an American publication all about cheese. We would say it was a title that really grows on you, but we don’t think we could forgive ourselves. Cheese from an American perspective, and in an exceedingly interesting (this is true, though amusing it is also a fascinating read) mag – perfect.

So, celebrities and cheese, beer and football. We reckon we’ve got America covered pretty well there. Perhaps though the thing we love the most about America, and US magazines as well, is the unbridled optimism found in every title. Perhaps this is the glorious weather - as I write this here in Canterbury it is actually raining so hard that I couldn’t hear someone speaking to me on the telephone just now – or maybe it’s the sheer beauty of the country itself. Whatever it is, we think a little American Sunshine every now and then helps cut through our cynicism and the perpetual British gloom. (Cor blimey Nick, its only September.)