Letter to Isaac Asimov's SF Mag

I Looked at the 12/o8 issue of your magazine and bought it largely because of Bob Silverberg's article about Murray Leinster, one of my favorite authors. I had stopped buying SF magazines by the 1980's because I found the stories to be un-entertaining. It seemed to me that the new authors coming in, who were not schooled in the pulps, did not understand that the primary purpose of fiction is to entertain. Hopefully, I read the lead story, Way Down East by Tim Sullivan. I found the story so disappointing that I could not get myself to read any other stories in the issue. Endless dialogue between two characters who were not particularly interesting. I asked myself several times how the dialogue advanced the plot, the story? The answer is that there is no plot or story. No thought provoking concepts such as Murray Leinster graced his stories with. And then, by some sort of Deus Ex Machina, the alien suddenly dies. We learn nothing about his culture and viewpoint and how his death would impact our planet. The "story" ends with more inane dialogue between the two idiots. Let Bob Silverberg read this "story". I am sure that his reaction would be like mine. In the meantime, I will not easily be tempted to buy your magazine again.