I use to be a subscriber and a avid reader . recently , perhaps in the last two year or so , the quality of the writing have become rather poor . the selection of article be uninteresting , and sometimes half the article themselves be so poorly write as to be unreadable . the fiction be simply mediocre , and the entire magazine seem to be infect with editor Lewis Lapham 's shrill and ever-growing notebook -lrb- do the man ever have anything interesting or original to say ? -rrb- . in short , Harper 's be not the magazine it once be . I would suggest the Atlantic monthly if you want a magazine that be interesting , informative , and well-written , cover to cover .