Tin House Magazine, Volume 13, Issue 1, Fall 2011: #49 The Ecstatic

Tin House #49

by Win McCormack (Editor), Lee Montgomery (Editor), Rob Spillman (Editor)

Tin House is an award-winning literary magazine that publishes new writers as well as more established voices; essays as well as fiction, poetry, and interviews.

Genres: Short Stories, Essays, Poetry

220 pages, Magazine

First published September 1, 2011

About the author

Win McCormack is an American publisher and editor from Oregon.

He is editor-in-chief of Tin House magazine and Tin House Books, the former publisher of Oregon Magazine, and founder and treasurer of MediAmerica, Inc. He serves on the board of directors of the journal New Perspectives Quarterly. His political and social writings have appeared in Oregon Humanities, Tin House, The Nation, The Oregonian, and Oregon Magazine. McCormack's investigative coverage of the Rajneeshee movement was awarded a William Allen White Commendation from the University of Kansas and the City and Regional Magazine Association. His latest book, You Don’t Know Me: A Citizen's Guide to Republican Family Values, examines the sex scandals of Republican politicians who espouse "moral values."

As a political activist, McCormack served as Chair of the Oregon Steering Committee for Gary Hart's 1984 presidential campaign. He is chair of the Democratic Party of Oregon's President's Council and a member of the Obama for President Oregon Finance Committee. McCormack was also chosen as Alternate Delegate to the 2008 Democratic National Convention. He currently serves on the Oregon Council for the Humanities and the Oregon Tourism Commission. Additionally, McCormack sits on the Board of Overseers for Emerson College, and is a co-founder of the Los Angeles-based Liberty Hill Foundation

Reviews

[Pamster · Rating 4 out of 5]

Super enjoyable! New Kelly Link story, awes. A great article about a kung fu master and his search for serious students. Super intriguing personal essay about epilepsy. And the book reviews! Not new stuff that publishers are pushing, just shit that sounds awesome. Particularly loved a review of Christiane Ritter's Woman in the Polar Night. Okay, and that Moby Dick drawing project? A piece of art for every page? I kept hearing about it and I was like whatever. But then there are a bunch of pages of it in here and they are AWESOME! So so cool. Really glad I bought this.

Tin House rules!

[The only thing I didn't like was this essay from this woman who loves New Kids on the Block and went to see one of them later in his solo career, and mentions like three times how fat all the other women in the audience are. "Despite the aforementioned heft of the audience, Joey seemed taken by our attractiveness." Idiot.]

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tin House never disappoints. I had to pick up this particular volume because it had a short story by Kelly Link, one of my favorite writers. But there are a lot of stand-outs here, organized around the theme of The Ecstatic.

Some highlights:

- "Caught Up" by Jamie Quatro - a story on adultery and visions.
- "The Summer People" by Kelly Link - this story centers on a young girl forced to fend for herself, and the mysterious folk she deals with.
- An Excerpt from Moby-Dick in Pictures: One Drawing for Every Page - I've never even read Moby-Dick, but I found this art fascinating.
- "How the Light Gets In" by Elissa Schappell - One of the most fascinating pieces in the lot, Schappell talks about her epilepsy, both the agony and the ecstasy.

[Derek · Rating 4 out of 5]

There were a few more middling pieces here than usual. While I wasn't as blown away by Cesar Aira's story as I'd hoped to be, I'm still intrigued by his writing methods and his body of work. I might yet seek out his books. What salvaged the four-star rating were the stellar stories by Nicolai Grozni and Kelly Link.

[Anne Bennett · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some wonderful pieces in here -- I particularly liked "The Summer People" by Kelly Link and "Caught Up" by Jamie Quatro. The interview with Ben Okri was also very interesting; I think I need to add some of his work to my "to read" list (which is no so long that I can never die).

[Erik · Rating 2 out of 5]

These literary journals are a little like college radio. You hope to be happily surprised now and again--hear (read) something a little different--but you expect most of the stuff to be average or worse. This met expectations.

[Julie]

The cover for this issue is so pretty, I almost feel okay about summer ending.

[Heather Pagano · Rating 3 out of 5]

This issue was very consistent with it's theme of ecstasy. Some fun short stories and poetry. Non-fiction was a bit weak.