The history of modern American literature is inextricably tied to the history of the literary magazine. The literary magazines of the 20th century, most of them known as "littles" because of small budgets and circulation, number in the thousands. Some, like the venerable New Yorker, have enjoyed wide circulation for well over half a century; most others, like The Fugitive, were regional and/or experimental and short-lived. Of these thousands, Chielens has selected 76 of the most significant for description and analysis in individual historical essays. An additional 100 magazines are briefly profiled in an appendix.