March 2013 marks the tenth anniversary of The Believer.  Originally named The Optimist, The Believer was founded by McSweeney’s with the intent to be a positive presence in the literary world.  No snark here, in other words.  I came across the journal a short while after I moved to Hawaii and joined a contemporary fiction reading group.

The biggest draw of the journal for me was Nick Hornby’s mostly-consistent “Stuff I’ve Been Reading” column.  Each month, the writer of books like A Long Way Down and Juliet, Naked wrote through the best of what he had been reading that month (and inspired me to finally read Great Expectations).  Authors I met through other means would drop by the journal often, too.  It’s because of The Believer that I read things like The Book of Disquiet and Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore.  So I’m glad to hear that the journal has made it to the ten-year mark.

If you have some free time today, here are three articles from The Believer‘s ten-year catalog that I’ve enjoyed and been challenged by:

• From the November 2003 issue, an article about Smallville, Jesus, and America;
• From the October 2011 issue, a brilliant essay from Jonathan Lethem titled “Postmodernism as Liberty Valance”;
• And from the February 2013 issue, an interesting look at eastern monasticism’s struggle with the 21st century.

I may not always agree with The Believer, but I have always appreciated its optimism and sense of engagement with a culture we all-too-often don’t hear because of the clammer of today’s pop culture.  I think it’s well worth our time to listen to its voice a little more.