Some of the shady folks behind The American Reader: from left, Uzoamaka Maduka; Stephanie LaCava

The Economist goes investigative on the literary magazine world in a short post about The American Reader, a new magazine being edited by Ben Marcus, Stephanie LaCava, and Uzoamaka Maduka, among others. Pondering the announced printing of the magazine’s debut (8,000 copies), the Economist asks where all the money is coming from. According to the post, “The American Reader’s most likely source of funds is Larry Gagosian, a powerful art dealer and partner of Shala Monroque, the magazine’s creative consultant.”

But not so fast, says … the magazine itself: An American Reader “press officer said this was ‘absolutely not’ the case.”

Furthermore, “Ms. Maduka declined to name the magazine’s investors.”

What else murky is going on? According to the Economist, the new magazine’s website is “registered in the name of domainsbyproxy.com, a private registration service.”