Reviews For Details Magazine


Give Me the Details

Details is a mildly interesting magazine that is geared toward men of various ages and lifestyles. The main group that Details aims to capture is the 17 to 35 year- old male but there are articles in each magazine that could be appealing to men of many different ages, mostly in the middle to upper income groups.

Some things about Details quickly set it apart from other magazines. One difference is the "departments". Most magazines have departments, but instead of talking about the same things each month, these departments vary in their content (the only exceptions being "Know- Tell" and the "The Details"). Each one contains similar stories from one month to the next, but with different subtitles, helping to make each issue a little fresher than it would otherwise be.

As far as the writing goes, Details offers a great deal of diversity for a magazine. Yes, it is generally focused on things of interest to men, but it covers a very broad range of interests. You can find articles in this magazine on such diverse topics as the death penalty, raising kids, buying a new coat, setting up an internet business, breaking up with a girlfriend, or purchasing the best vodka. There are articles geared toward single men and married men, as well as younger men and middle- aged men.

I like some of the articles found here but there is one problem I have with the writing in Details. It is common to find eye- catching headlines on the cover of Details that tempt you to find out more. This is nothing new and most every magazine does this. But the problem is that many of these eye- popping stories fail to keep you amazed when you read them. Take for example an article in a recent issue. On the front, it reads "Is Your Wife a Bad Mom"? It sound like an engaging, intellectual read. But once you find the article and take in its 1,000+ words, you quickly discover that there is little or no substance. Basically, it simply tells men that accusing your wife of being a bad mom is a risky undertaking that could hurt her feelings. That is it. There is no intellectual analysis or quotes from studies; only the bottom line conclusion that mothers generally don't like to be called incompetent by their husbands. Other headlining articles in this magazine lead to similar disappointment.

The writing in this magazine is on the edge and very blunt. It is common to find several four- letter words in many of the articles and while this doesn't bother me at all, I know that some readers will consider it too raw, too edgy, and too explicit. Details writers have no problem telling it like it is, and this can be both good and bad depending on one's perspective.

Besides the language, some parts of this magazine could offend certain readers; namely the "Anthropology" page at the end. This closing "article" is meant to be humorous, but some readers will not see it that way. I don't know if it has always been this way, but what "Anthropology" does is show a person or multiple people and then asks the question "Gay or ______". For example, I have seen titles like "Gay or Best Friends?", "Gay or Cowboy?", "Gay or Neo Punk Rocker?", and others. With each of these, there is a diagram of sorts with arrows pointing to different clothing and bodily features and short comments about each one. Basically, it is asking you to think about these different attributes of the person or people in the picture and then decide if the way they dress, look, and act makes them gay. I find this silly and immature, but I can see how some readers would find it insulting. I don't know if Details has always done this or if the Anthropology page has been different in the past. But this is how it has been in every issue I have read and it needs to be changed.

Advertisements claim about sixty percent of the pages in each issue of this magazine. They cover products like liquor, cars, electronics, cigarettes, fragrance, etc. Even though this magazine covers lots of different things, the item most often featured in the advertisements is clothing. The magazine seems to have a penchant for high fashion and it devotes more pages to expensive clothing than anything else. And each issue often has its own unique smell, thanks to all of the cologne samples. You can flip through the pages and find several samples in each issue, with many of the latest and trendiest scents from the biggest names in cologne.

Overall, I am torn between liking or not liking Details Magazine. I like some of the articles on food, drink, politics and the like. But I don't necessarily like the shallow fluff that is often substituted for an intellectual discussion and I can understand how some readers would find certain aspects of this magazine insulting. This magazine is deserving of only about two and one- half stars which I will round up to three stars and give a small recommendation. Some will like this magazine and some will not. It's all a matter of what you like to read about and whether or not you can handle a magazine that pushes the envelope.

Time Machine Subscription?

I ordered my 12 issue subscription to Details on December 30th. The first issue arrived at the end of January, as expected. However, they sent me the December issue, with lots of advice about the Holidays. Within the next two weeks, they sent me the January and February issues. Basically, they used my subscription as a great excuse to get rid of back issues that they didn't sell on the newsstands.

Don't get me wrong, the magazine itself is great. I just didn't appreciate them pulling a fast one and making old issues (That I already had purchased on my own) count towards the 12 issues I paid for.

Kind of Boring

This magazine doesn't really have much to it. I'm glad I got the subscription for free!

Not what I expected

Cologne samples and pages after pages of advertisements featuring waifish men with skinny legs and sunken chests. This is what's passing for a men's magazine these days? The covers are dead good but beyond that, see GQ or Esquire for a magazine with more substance than scent and show. My boyfriend was sorely disappointed in this one.

It's no Esquire

There are a whole slew of men's interests magazines. There
are the industry standards like Esquire (quite possibly the best magazine out there) and GQ. There's the more risque like Maxim or even the low-brow Stuff, worth getting. Then there are those that fall somewhere in the middle, like FHM and Details. Even without seeing magazines like Esquire or Maxim, you can see that Details falls short. It's a glossy magazine that usually has pretty good covers, but that's where the excellence stops. The articles are generally substandard. They are usually poorly written or can't seem to get the facts straight. Their only saving grace is that they are so short (which is a problem when you run across the occasionally well-done, interesting article). And Details is not a magazine that seems to have its hand on the
pulse of the nation. More often than not, you skim through, looking for something interesting to read, and close it finding none. And in a men's interest/fashion magazine, nothing is more important than the photos. Unfortunately they are not that great. The photo spreads are way too short. But since the photographers have taken amatuerish or just poorly done
photographs, it actually works out. Basically what you have with
Details is a magazine that wants to be one of the big boys, but hasn't found a way to get there. You'd do better spending your money on an Esquire subscription.

Not What I Wanted

I bought a subscription to this magazine because it was a bargain and the covers always are eye-appealing and intriguing. However, I am disappointed with the magazine itself, now that I have been receiving it for about six months. As some of the other reviewers have noted, a huge portion of the magazine is taken up with glossy advertising, most of which is for clothing that only investment bankers or movie stars are likely to purchase. I like clothes, but it would be nice to see clothing lines other than couture advertised. More disturbingly, the magazine seems to have a split personality in its approach to masculinity. Many articles are written from the viewpoint of the stereotypical uber-masculine American male, with lots of references to heterosexual relationships, and other "guy stuff." Yet other articles come off as attempting to be from a gay-friendly viewpoint. I prefer the latter, but I don't see the point in having gay-friendly material when the rest of the magazine is trying to be a go-to guide for red-blooded males. I guess I don't fully "get" the editorial viewpoint that Details (purports to be) espousing. Consequently, I won't be ordering another subscription.

Not a big fan

I recently got this subscription for free because of my GQ subscription. I'm not a big fan of this magazine - it seems to be entirely made up of ads for high-end fashion with few substantive articles or anything really worth my time. If I ever want to look at pictures of clothes I definately can't afford, I'll flip through "Details".

Pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty models.

There are lots of attractive males in this magazine that are usually wearing nice clothes. And there are some interesting articles once in a while. But the advertisements are aplenty. Even more than some gaming magazines!

That's all you see every 2 pages or so!

That gets boring after a while...

Good thing I didn't pay for this subscription. :^D

2 stars.

end note: the title to this review kinda copies a song by Fefe Dobson. :^-D

too metrosexual...

I used to subscribe to Details many years ago...before the days of Maxim and FHM. It used to be a decent magazine. I guess after being a subscriber of Maxim for many years I am biased now.

one more review

it's ok. if you have an extra ten dollars to spare and like receiving mail in the mail box go ahead and get it. it's interesting bathroom material. don't really know what the last review was all about. the dude didn't like the magazine. why waste time doggin' someone else for their thoughts. looks like a little moral superiority on your part.

anyway, get this if you can't spare the extra change for sports illustrated.

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