Harper 's have be in business since 1850 and have publish some of the greatest american - writer , from Mark Twain on down . its editor and tone - setter be the veteran journalist Lewis Lapham . it publish fiction , and article include interesting symposium on many aspect of american economic , political and cultural life . it attract the big - name in all area , and also provide a lot of human - interest material , statistical curiosity , historical information and story . for some reason which I do not fully understand it have never be my great favorite . and in the old day I prefer ` the Atlantic ' and the ` Saturday Review of Literature ' to it . of course one of the feature of ` Harper 's be its book - review do by among other today , John Leonard . I suppose what have sour I a bit on ` Harper 's ' be its bias to the political left . but that withstand it still provide a rich mix of article of high quality .