Real Photo Postcards Postcards haven’t always been cheesy collages of lighthouses—when Kodak enabled people to make their own cards in 1907, a craze swept the nation. A gallery from a new collection of odd correspondence.

I Would Die 4 U Hazing makes for hot courtship, and how better to love your woman than by hitting her in the face? Realizing her childhood was empty of important life lessons, our writer falls under a certain Prince’s spell.

Battle of the Giants One has the world’s best culture; the other, perfect weather. Both are dirty, defined by expensive rents, and full of citizens who say their city’s the best. A fair and balanced guide to choosing between New York and San Francisco.

Susan Straight The great American novel doesn’t exist—except in the minds of marketers (and those who believe New Yorkers write the best books). Birnbaum talks to Susan Straight about regional writing, as American as apple pie.