Tin House Magazine, Volume 14, Issue 3, Spring 2013: #55 This Means War

Tin House #55

by Win McCormack (Editor), Holly MacArthur (Editor), Rob Spillman (Editor)

This issue has articles and poetry relating to war.

220 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2013

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

[Vin · Rating 3 out of 5]

War. Good God. I didn't realize it, but war is a tired old topic. Even with lots of fresh wars brewing all over the world, the stories remain the same. The food is horrible, the women are vulnerable, the moments between explosions are where the stories happen. I would probably be happy to never read anything (fiction or non-) about WW2 or Vietnam ever again; I was hoping for a little more 'now' in this issue, but maybe those stories have yet to be written. The two short stories about Afghanistan held more intrigue than the Schindler-esque 'The Education of Werner Pfennig.' Though it was beautifully written, I feel like I've read so many stories like that one.

The poetry voiced war-like concerns without beating dead horses. Michael Helm's essay on researching war crimes in Guatemala was chilling. The correspondance between Robert Bly and Tomas Transtromer (during Vietnam) was funny and insightful. I write really great reviews, yes?

[J.A. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I especially dug the poems in this issue, though there is also some stellar fiction, including a piece of Matthew Spektor's American Dream Machine, which takes war to a different place. As always, Tin House finds what is well-paced and well-written and presents it in a pretty skin.

[Quinn Irwin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jim Shepard's "Wall-to-Wall Counseling" and Anthony Doerr's "The Education of Werner Pfenning" are outstanding. But nothing else impressed me except the cover, which is beautiful and disturbing.

[Cherie · Rating 2 out of 5]

B Like all lit journals, some good ones. A war theme. Great essay abt Guat and I liked the interview w the war correspondent.

[Stacie Nishimoto · Rating 4 out of 5]

(mental note) Seriously need a Tin House subscription for Christmas

[Zach · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Jim Shepard story and the excerpt from Doerr are worth the price of admission.

[Teresa Burns Gunther · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was blown away by Colum McCann's "Delicate Peace" in this issue. As always, Tin House publishes powerful work to keep us coming in this crazy world.