"The Believer is a monthly magazine where length is no object. There are book reviews that are not necessarily timely, and that are very often very long. There are interviews that are also vercy long. The Believer contains no ads and is printed in four colors on heavy stock paper."

I stole the above description of The Believer from the publisher's Web site because I was curious as to just how this particular piece of print described itself. (Also, because I was on the Web site anyway and like copying/pasting something.)

Is TB a magazine? Or is it a journal? Is it a guidebook by which to live my life? Is it all of these things and a source for some interviews with little kids?

Yes! That is the answer to all of that. Yes!

In issue No. 9 of TB, I found an article that both exalted and critiqued the "Sweet Valley High" books. I found an article discussing the moral implications of human cloning. I found out that koalas, like kangaroos, are marsupials. Should I have known this all along? Did you know this?

TB is unlike its predecessor (McSweeney's) in that each article here is, in fact, based on truth. It is, as it claims, a magazine - but a uniquely stylish one. The writing style of the articles is hip - as proved by occasional use of the word "fuck" and constant general good humor, wit and intelligence.

Rather than glossy photographs of things and people, TB relies almost solely on article content to hold the reader's interest. I read the illustrations in TB are all line drawings of football players or "baroque freak-outs" (as the cover describes them), which means fancy-ish Victorian swirls.

Nick Hornby, the English author who brought the world "High Fidelity" among other novels and books, has a continuing segment called, "Stuff I've Been Reading." It is what it claims to be, but is also entertaining, funny and full of other information such as where Mr. Hornby has been, and what he was doing there - which often seems to be reading.

TB also offers a wide variety of interviews in each issue. Issue No. 9 included a one-page interview with French sisters in Florida (ages 5 and 8) who enjoy animals, collecting and are afraid of an imaginary mean woman named Barbara Doc Iveress (she indeed sounds like a troublesome foe). This recurring interview series is called "Children." Also appearing in issue No. 9 are interviews with Ice Cube and Aleksandra Mir, an installation artist who wants to recreate Stonehenge and play soccer there.

TB is more of a journal than a magazine - it is full of factual articles, bound with "heavy stock paper" and worth reading more than one time through. Collectors of things may want to begin collecting TB. Readers in general should give this one a try - at $8 a pop, it's a bargain and good for fun, education and surprises.