We are American life, full of multitudes. And Italy, too. We are a cheap Merlot and a fine Bordeaux. We are Eliot Spitzer and Ross Perot, Bill Clinton and Bill Bradley. We are the Village Green Preservation Society. We are a rusty sign, and a grand terrace. We are Fine Art and hamburgers–with or without mayo.

But as well-coiffed Vandals declare “High culture is dead!”, we reject the premise and the formulation. The boundaries have changed, but lines must still be drawn in the sand. We seek to separate the coffee from the cream — even when we know how good that coffee is.

Surrounded by bowdlerizers, neophytes, amateurs, and Snobs, we take arms, knowing not if, by opposing, we shall end them.

Ex Absurdibus Artsum!

– Founding Editors Thomas Gilchrist, Jillian McLaughlin, and Evan Lisull