McSweeney's Issue 79

McSweeney’s Quarterly Concern #79

by Rita Bullwinkel (Editor), Dave Eggers (founder)

Coming to you at the intersection of book and tapestry, the seventy-ninth issue of our National Magazine Award–winning quarterly is embroidered from head to toe—using precisely 133,095 stitches of thread—with the art of Marta Monteiro. Inside this tactile, textile, tangerine-backdropped, cloth-bound art object are nine new stories, three fresh novel excerpts, six timely letters, an essay as sharp as a blade, a stunningly surreal slice of a graphic novel by Patrick Keck, and a shockingly beautiful, hot-pink suite of Mary Magdalenes painted by Leanne Shapton.

As your fingers caress the raised topography of this issue’s beyond-belief weave, marvel at a story by Joseph Earl Thomas in which time stops mid-dunk; a novel excerpt by Helen DeWitt and Ilya Gridneff in which invented languages make a play; a story by Ahmed Naji that circles Cairo rap clashes; a captivating, climate-terror portrait of a story by T.C. Boyle; three totally crisp, sentence-gem-adorned stories by Diane Williams; dazzling letters by Jac Jemc, Meng Jin, Rebekah Bergman, and so much more!

Blow a kiss goodbye to summer, and brush your hands over the neon-threaded landscape of Issue 79 to feel a magazine that, both inside and out, is truly like no other.

Genres: Short Stories, Literature, Fiction

217 pages, Paperback

Published September 4, 2025

About the author

Rita Bullwinkel is the author of Headshot and Belly Up, a story collection that won the Believer Book Award. She is a 2022 recipient of a Whiting Award, the editor of McSweeney's Quarterly, a contributing editor at NOON, and the Picador Guest Professor of Literature at Leipzig University in Germany, where she teaches courses on creative writing, zines, and the uses of invented and foreign languages as tools for world building.

Reviews

[Paul Dembina · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a beautiful thing, the embroidered cover gave it an extra star straight away.

My favourite pieces were by the big-hitters. TC Boyle with his tale of a Cold Summer and the extract from Helen DeWitt & Ilya Gridneff's Your Name Here. I'm looking forward to reading that baby.

[Stewart Mitchell · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was my first time reading one of these McSweeney’s compilations and even if I had totally hated it, it still would have been worth buying since it’s one of the most gorgeous books I own. Luckily, it was actually very enjoyable and I came away from it with a few new authors to look forward to. The short story selections are a mixed bag, as expected, and the 2 biggest highlights are the ones from the biggest names (T.C. Boyle and Helen DeWitt), but I was surprised at the overall quality of the rest of the batch. There’s nothing here that I would consider bad, although some of the autofiction was a bit too diaristic for me, and there are at least 4 or 5 very good stories, as well as a comic with some really fantastic illustrations.

Looking forward to reading more of these, and to reading the Helen DeWitt novel that was previewed in this one.

[derek allard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Worth wading through everything here for Joanna Rupcco’s “Places That Have Never Been,” which is an awesome story with even better use of language, beautiful language, unique language.

[Timons Esaias · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am a subscriber, since the second number, so my main suggestion for you is just subscribe. That said, this was a decidedly mixed edition as far as I'm concerned.

I enjoyed reading the letters, though none of them was a killer. I'll admit that the Letters section is often the weirdest and most intriguing part of the volumes that have them. McSweeney's letters are an art form.

The cover is lovely, and I think it's the only stitched cloth hardback they've ever done. Liked that a lot.

I am often unsure what to make of T.C. Boyle pieces, because I sense axes grinding in the background. But the writing and execution are generally excellent, and "Cold Summer" followed that pattern. It's a decidedly complex piece, which I admired.

My favorite piece is "The Case of the Missing Liver" by Ahmed Naji.

It is perhaps unfair to judge an excerpt the way one would judge a complete piece, but I actively disliked Dewitt & Gridneff's Your Name Here, even though it felt like it should be my cup of joe.

And what cost this volume a star was the two other pieces that didn't work for me at all, at all. That's more misses than I usually experience in McSweeneyopolis, but I still enjoyed the issue nonetheless.

[Brainard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Am I writing the first review of this? Ok I am a fan of these quarterly books which are always of a different design and shape and I always wonder, how can they follow up on this gorgeous design? And somehow they always do. This issue had an embroidered cover spine and back cover, done! Just wow, beautiful to hold and gaze upon, why not judge a book by its cover? So the stories inside, for me, are always page turners. New fiction by talented authors. I’m not going to review each story, read it yourself! Thank you McSweenys for always outdoing yourselves and sending me such beautiful books and writing.

[Valerie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is your quarterly reminder to subscribe to literary magazines that go out of their way to make incredible art and feature incredible writers, especially if they highlight TC Boyle on a regular basis.

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the vast majority of these - read it almost all the way through in one sitting.

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

some odd gems

[Maren · Rating 4 out of 5]

Receiving my McSweeney’s quarterly is always a treat, but opening this beautifully embroidered volume was extra special. The short story by T.C. Boyle is a standout.

[Pia · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not the worst McSweeney’s, probably. But miles behind so many other issues.

[Jody Jankola · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book and the experimental/unconventional pieces within. I particularly liked learning about the Egyptian music scene.

[Vladimir Ghinculov · Rating 3 out of 5]

My favorite literary quaterly review has reached issue number 79! Although McSweeney's Quarterly Corned is usually above par this issue was a little dull. Unfortunately there was only one really good story that I have to mention: Cold Summer by T.C. Boyle. So, the second issue in a row that was mediocre. Hope the next one improves!