October 1, 2013
Dear Editor(s),
First things first and speaking of the above, my first question and a very brief tangent: to exactly whom am I writing? It’s a fair and relevant question. I actually checked the “Who We Are” section of your site and found myself totally overwhelmed by the sheer amount of “editing” going on over there. Do you each have an office? Are there cubicles? Coffee mugs? All I know is I stopped counting “editors” on the masthead at thirty-seven (!) because I got tired, and decided to simply trust this would go to the appropriate one. After all, it’s what you do, no?
That said, if I may suggest one thing: I’m not sure the “Letters Editor” would be a good choice. The obvious one, yes, but that’s the problem. This aims to be more than a letter. This letter has ambition. “Senior Literary Editor?” More appropriate, absolutely. “Poetry Editor?” “Assistant Poetry Editor?” Perhaps in part—in fact, those last two sentences rhyme. Either way, I guess, it’s up to you. (Have you considered adding a “Masthead Editor?” It might forestall more letters like this in the future.) But I would definitely suggest giving this sort of thing real thought because, well, after all I’m taking time out of my day to compose a courteous note, and so maybe you’ll at least provide me a proper audience.
Speaking of audience, the real reason why I’m here: I’ve read your site a few times, now, always a thoughtful skim, as I happened onto it entirely by accident while Googling a new wine bar in my neighborhood called The Rumpus Room. Your site seems to be largely about books, which I applaud, books I mean, but the site also seems an attempt at something greater. It seems to be a place that values, even fosters, what is now called “community.” And good for you. Of course, the inevitable question is what community? As a longtime resident of my own particular neighborhood, I found myself curious about representation on behalf of my own community. We read too! I even dabble with writing. Just the other day I was telling someone, I think I’m going to write something. Regardless, I’m sad to report that such representation on your site is lacking. Sorely lacking. I’ll elaborate:
A basic Rumpus search for “Brooklyn” delivers thirty articles, and, more importantly, there appears an encouraging “More >>” button at the bottom of the screen. Fine. Whatever. Let’s refine. I entered “Williamsburg” and found the results to be exactly the same. I then decided to hit the “More >>” button, and found myself with thirty more results and another “More>>” button. I followed that button. In fact, I followed that button every time, finding more and more “Williamsburg” articles. How many could there be? Well, I stopped at thirty-seven, because I got tired. Which means according to my dashboard calculator: 1,110 Williamsburg articles. That’s a lot—a whole lot. And is it just a coincidence that I stopped counting at thirty-seven editors? at thirty-seven Williamsburg articles? You be the judge.
My point?
I then entered “Upper East Side” in the Rumpus search field, which yielded a mere seventeen articles. Seventeen! And as you can imagine there was not a “More>>” button in sight. Not to mention those seventeen article-excerpts prominently displayed the following phrases: “economic viability,” “golden suits,” “the Real Housewives,” and “the sweet smell of excess.”
All I can say is the above does not at all sufficiently represent my experience on the Upper East Side, a neighborhood all too often disparaged by easy and dated stereotypes. Even as I sit here in John Jay Park writing this letter, the morning sun pouring a lovely honey glow over the windows of my apartment building, the United States Government has officially shut down, from what I hear, and yet all on the block is fine. There is no chaos. There is no looting. The children are playing on the stone playground camels and the nannies are checking their phones. I wonder if the same could be said for Williamsburg? Hence the need for this dispatch.
I trust this note will be read in the sprit intended, that of diversity, of fair and democratic community representation.
I also want to say I wish you and your site only the best success. I must admit after perusing I mentioned it to the other two people sitting on my bench, and then I randomly asked a few others if they had ever heard of your site? All of them said no. Which can of course be seen as a good thing, too (we are optimistic here, and always look for the “upper” side of things): the only way from here, for you, is up!
Onward!
S. Cheshire
Upper East Side
