May 23, 2011 issue, completed May 4, 2012

I thought the cover of this issue was a nice one, paying tribute to the centennial of the New York Public Library. But I admit, I sped through this one after spending too long with the previous week's issue. I enjoyed the article about growing meat the best - pleasantly surprised to learn that PETA supports the research in this field - and I do hope that scientists find a way to make it work in my lifetime. I also enjoyed the articles on Clarence Darrow and Joseph Brodsky, neither of whom I knew much about before now. I have to confess to being completely puzzled by the ending of the fiction story, "The Trusty." Was the protagonist about to be killed? By whom? Did the girl Lucy double-cross him? Even reading it through a few times, I still don't get it, and I guess since I'm the only one reading this issue close to a full year after its publication, there is no one to ask so I never will. This kind of thing doesn't happen often, but I hate it when it does. I feel like the rest of the world is in on a joke that I don't get. It happens all the time when it comes to New Yorker cartoons, but thanks to Seinfeld I know I'm not alone in that regard, so I'm OK with it.