Life, 1911-11-23 · page 40 of 44
Life — November 23, 1911 — page 40: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a **magazine advertisement**, not a cartoon. It's a promotion for *Current Literature Magazine* disguised as satirical commentary. The ad uses humor to appeal to diverse readers: it compares wealthy "Mr. H. Percival Beacon-Street" (representing the upper class) with "One-eyed Mike, the Mayor of Hell's Corners, New Mexico" (representing ordinary/working people). Despite their vast differences, both supposedly share the same need—to extract real news from the clutter of murders, divorces, and fake stories in newspapers. The "vivisection" metaphor (surgical cutting) applies this medical term to news analysis, arguing that critical examination of current events is essential to being a "live one" (someone engaged with modern life). The pitch: *Current Literature Magazine* supposedly does this better than its seven competitors, combining news analysis with coverage of "active interests" shaping history. **The satire targets** newspaper sensationalism while promoting this magazine as the intelligent alternative.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
WHEN MR. H. PERCIVAL BEACON-STREET sits down to his THANKSGIVING DINNER of seventeen courses and a soda-mint, he has two things 1n common with One-eyed Mike, the Mayor of Hell’s Corners, New Mexico, whose dinner consists of a soda cracker and seventeen curses. They both need food, and they both want to know WHAT GOES ON and they haven’t time to separate the real news in fifteen thousand news- papers, from the murders, divorces,“funny stories,” fake interviews and “other fillers.” VIVISECTION of limpid-eyed puppies and palpitating Angoras may be all wrong. But vivisection of the news of the day, critical analysis of the real events of the moment and of the men who are DOING THINGS is absolutely indispensable to any man or woman who pretends to be a LIVE ONE There are seven magazines that do this—and do it well. There is one that has just that little added touch of genius, artistic fire, ginger—what you will, that always makes the difference between the good ones and the best. That one is CURRENT LITERATURE MAGAZINE, which, by the way, has no more to do with Literature than with a thousand other of the world’s ACTIVE INTERESTS A masterly monthly summing-up of the events that are shaping history, and ten other departments, all snapping with the intellectual electricity that makes this age the most stirring of all time, combine to form the masterpiece of “timely” periodicals. If you believe us, subscribe now, the cost is $3.00. If you don’t believe us, send for sample copy and special offer. 140 West 29th Street, New York City. comicbooks eon