Doug Most responds!

Published Jan 28 2008, 09:37 PM by Adam Reilly

Yesterday, I gave Doug Most a hard time for welcoming a little bit of SoHo to JP.

Today, the Boston Globe Magazine editor was kind enough to email me a substantial response. Here it is:

You're right. Boston isn't New York, and, as someone who swapped the Upper West Side for Back Bay (before JP), that is a good thing. And you're right. Boston has its own character, and certainly JP does, and that's also a good thing. But none of that means I can't yearn for things from New York.

Does that mean I can't wish more restaurants in Boston stayed open later than 10 p.m., like in New York, because that's part of Boston's "charm"? Forgive me if I'm not charmed the next time I leave a movie theater at 10 p.m. and have to wonder which of the restaurants will still seat me at 10:30 p.m. Does that mean I can't groan the next time I have to rush for the T late at night before it shuts down, something that never happened to me in NYC? Does that mean I can't wish that JP had a great bookstore, and big coffee shop (gasp, Starbucks!), and more food options that delivered, all things I had within a 2-block radius of my NYC apartment?

I can love Boston for all of its quirks, but that doesn't mean I can't yearn for it to get a little bit better, too. You said my job as editor of the Boston Globe Magazine is to be more loyal to my city. It is? That sounds like my job is only to praise Boston and ignore its flaws. Sorry, that's not my role. As for Salmagundi, I stand by my words: Yeah, a little bit of Soho in JP is fine by me.

Doug Most

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8 Comments

Aging Cynic said:

And I stand by my thoughts on the Globe (below). Just when I think they can't become any more insufferable, they prove me wrong. Most of us buy the Herald out of desperation. If the Globe thought of their readers once in a while instead of engaging in self-congratulatory narcissism, the Herald probably WOULD go under.

January 28, 2008 10:26 PM
say what? said:

I'm with Mr. Most 100%. I've been here 17 years and the nightlife is at a nadir.

AS to Aging Cynic's latest rant: How exactly is wishing for a better nightlife narcissism? The real tragedy is so many musicians and artists have left town that bitter idiots like the "Aging Cynic" can pretend to speak for the majority. Tragic.

January 29, 2008 3:06 AM
Aging Cynic said:

I'll probably regret this but..

Let me get this straight. The biggest college town in America doesn't have enough cultural opportunities for you and that's somehow the fault of me and the other troglodytes? Nightlife hasn't "improved" since 1990, so somehow we need to emulate New York? Dude, the discussion was about the Globe. You're the one hung up on late night cold tea. That Mr. Most, (probably a fine fellow), thinks while editing the Paper of Record, he gets to decide what is "a little bit better" for the rest of us is the whole point. The pseudo-sophisticates pontificating to mainstream Boston are, IMHO, insufferable. I find irony in any business that preaches to its customers about their stupidity while simultaneously whining about decreasing sales, but that's just me.

January 29, 2008 4:04 AM
I see the problem said:

You only see the words you want to. So all posts are essentially "blah blah blah Glove blah blah blah liberals."

Try reading for content.

I didn't blame the lack of night life on you. I complained about a world in which so many interesting people have left, that your blither passes for commentary. Your description of "pseudo-sophisticates pontificating to mainstream Boston" speaks directly to my point.

Get a life. The Globe is NOT the source of Boston's problems. Pompous blowhards like you are.

January 29, 2008 3:26 PM
Aaron Read said:

Doug, your points are valid but look at it this way. When you're writing about Boston, it's a lot like talking to your girlfriend. By the same token, if you're writing about how much better some things are in New York than they are in Boston, then it's lot like talking to your current girlfriend about how your last girlfriend did something differently (and presumably better).

And no matter how open-minded your current girlfriend is, she's probably not going to like being compared to your ex. Admittedly, *if* your girlfriend is in *just* the right frame of mind...and *if* you frame the discussion *just* right...she *might* take the conversation as a way to better herself. But we all know how likely that is to happen...not very. More likely she'll be pissed.

January 29, 2008 5:17 PM
Aaron Read said:

BTW, the genders and sexual orientations are pretty much completely interchangeable in my above example. No sexism was intended.

January 29, 2008 5:18 PM
Aging Cynic said:

"...'Glove (sic) blah blah blah liberals.'

Try reading for content." Roger,Wilco!

"... I complained about a world in which so many interesting people have left...

Maybe they were on to something?

BTW, we "blowhards" always sign OUR posts..

January 30, 2008 4:05 AM
Aging 3rd Grader said:

Dear Mr. Blowhard,

Gosh, I made a typo. Wow, you got me. Such wit, such bravado. I'll never post again.

As to signing my posts: What did you say your name was again? Care to share any affiliations which may color your criticism? How about a reason we should care more about your "self-congratulatory narcissism" than the Globe's?

January 31, 2008 12:57 PM