The Esquire column is a fantasy made real thanks to the open-mindedness of the magazine's editor. As recently as May, he received a phone call and, as he tells it, the voice on the other end of the line said, "Hi, I'm David Granger from Esquire. I really like what you've been writing lately. Do you want to write a pop culture column for us?"
-- from a short profile on cultural poobah Stephen Marche in the August 9, 2008 Globe and Mail, by Amy Verner
I feel as though Marche getting the Esquire column involved a bit more than simply waiting for the phone to ring. My inner skeptic alarm is ringing in such a way as to suggest that something has been omitted in this version of events.
But, rather than be jealous or negative, I'm going to try the same technique. As of this moment, I'm open to phone calls from Jim Nelson (GQ), Dan Peres (Details) and David Remnick (New Yorker). If you're in desperate need of an intelligent white guy to help decode our cultural milieu, I'm but ten digits away. Unlike Marche, I only have a Master's, not a Ph.D, which means you can pay me 15 percent less.
You can even call collect, big-name glossy magazine editors. I won't mind a bit.
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