The Believer

HEIDI JULAVITS '90: A novelistlaunches a lit hit.

In the May 2003 debut issue of TheBeliever, the literary journal cofounded by Julavits, she lamented the state of book criticism in an essay-cum-manifesto, complaining that "modest, unspectacular books get celebrated, while more ambitious ones get lambasted or ignored."

Don't think Julavits said that because her own books have been panned: Critics raved about both of her novels. Newsweek called TheMineral Palace (2000) "a marvelous debut—harrowing, poetic and tragic enough to satisfy both Faulkner and Oprah" and The New York TimesBook Review recommended TheEffect of Living Backwards (2003) as "improbable—but so wildly inventive that you hardly care." In fact, Julavits started her new mag—which can be seen on the coffee tables of hipsters, literati and intellectuals—because she's on a worthy mission: to renew the public's passion for reading all sorts of things, especially novels. And so The Believer runs a quirky and engaging array of articles sometimes only tangentially related to literature, such as a recent story about an offbeat Ulysses reading group: Members meet at L.A. bars to discuss questions such as, "Why is Stephen Daedelus, the book's hero, such a colossal wanker?" Or an interview with Kumar Pallana, the man who played the family butler Pagoda in The Royal Tenenbaums, in which he reveals what's on his bookshelf.

Although Julavits and her cohorts are clearly putting the "fun" back in the slogan "Reading is Fundamental," The Believer has also inspired a slew of media coverage, including a NewYork Times op-ed written by British critic and author Clive James in which he responds to Julavits' inaugural rant. Published monthly since it was launched, the journal is entirely reader-supported and available at Barnes & Noble as well as independent booksellers. "I'm having such a great time," she says. But where did the name come from? "It refers to our belief that fiction remains a worthy and relevant artistic endeavor," says Julavits.

Amen to that.