Much of what is sold under the moniker "bagel" where I live is as bready and dry as toast before being toasted, which it must be to become palatable. (With those words, bagel cognoscenti will understand that I have just condemned these specimens to the same circle of hell reserved for blueberry bagels.) The new trend should be my salvation, but alas, it leaves me cold.

WSJ: Battle for the Bagel's Soul