With confidence like that, it's no wonder that not even John Heidenry's recent Digest history, "Theirs Was The Kingdom" -- suggestingthat Dewitt Wallace, the magazine's reclusive founder, lived a dark, lonely life greatly at odds with the homey values his magazine espoused -- could draw more than a sniff. "We were very disappointed," says Mr. [Craig Lowder]. "There was more gossip and innuendo than fact in that book."

Yet even the critics have nice things to say about the Digest. "It contains some of the best human interest stories in journalism," says Mr. Heidenry, "and some of the greatest Americana you will find anywhere. There the Reader's Digest is superb. The formula Wallace createdstill appeals to the Heartland or Middle America."

PHOTO 1 REPRODUCTION 1 REPRODUCTION 2 PHOTO 2 REPRODUCTION 3; Reader's Digest headquarters in Pleasantville, N.Y. The August issue of the magazine [Lila] and Dewitt Wallace on the cover of Time Reader's Digest Association Inc. publishes much more than the Digest. This 1920 trial-run edition promised 31 magazine articles.