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McSweeney's #30 (2009)

by Dave Eggers(Favorite Author)

3.79 of 5 Votes: 2

ISBN

1934781223 (ISBN13: 9781934781227)

languge

English

genre

Fiction

publisher

McSweeney's

series

McSweeney's Quarterly Concern

review 1: This is the first issue of McSweeney's to come out after Bush's presidency and the cover says it all - REJOICE! followed by "It's too late to screw it all up, right?" on the first page. Ah, McSweeney's. A note about the design because McSweeney's has a reputation for innovative design of their issues. Whether the issue is a newspaper, a cigar box, held together with magnets, or designed to look like junk mail, they usually do something interesting. McSweeney's 30 is simply a paperback. This is a deliberate choice as they explain on the copyright page to go back to the design of their earliest issues and to help out the Icelandic printer's they used to use back then who have fallen on hard times thanks to Icelandic bankers. It's a nice choice as the attention in this issue ... moreis on the contents not on the presentation. Bill Cotter's "Pfaff II" is about two mental patients who fall in love and escape together. Nick Ekkizogloy's "Stowaways" is about two stoner electricians who have to work through an emergency flooding. Kevin Moffett's "Further Interpretations of Real-Life Events" is about a wannabe writer/teacher whose father suddenly starts writing and gets published, much to his son's dismay and jealousy. Etgar Keret's "Bad Karma" features an insurance salesman whose near death experience helps him get more sales of life insurance than anyone else but also gave him a glimpse into a parallel world. Michael Cera's "Pinecone" is about a washed up actor in his late thirties who yells at a fast food clerk who said she didn't like one of his movies. Surprisingly good story as I was fully expecting to dislike it thinking "stick to acting, Scott Pilgrim!". Wells Tower's "Retreat" is a story that was published in McSweeney's 23 as told from the perspective of one man in the story. In this revamped version the story is told from that man's brother. It's also the edition found in Tower's book "Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned". The best two stories are Carson Mell's "Diamond Aces" and J. Malcolm Garcia's "Cuts". "Diamond Aces" is about a man finding out his elderly father is a strip club consultant and has some great funny scenes. "Cuts" is about a director of a non-profit agency tasked with helping the homeless. Awaiting a call about funding for his organisation for the next year, he ponders who to fire and who to keep on. Strangely poignant and funny. This is one of my favourite issues of McSweeney's with some excellent stories throughout. If you're a fiction fan looking for an engrossing read to keep you occupied for a few hours, this is your book.
review 2: As per usual, the packaging was brilliant and particularly simple for this issue: Obama-centered in oblique cover references. As a holistic artistic object/collection, I consider it a half-and-half. Half of the stories were brilliant, and the other half cheesy, consisting of a lot of stock characters and heavy on the indie father-son struggle. Stories you absolutely cannot miss: "The Beginning of a Plan" by Sheley Oria, and "Madness" by Matei Visniec. less

Download links for: McSweeney's #30

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