McSweeney's Issue 50

McSweeney’s Quarterly Concern #50

by Dave Eggers (Editor)

To celebrate our 50th issue, we’ve put together a guaranteed showstopper, with stories, essays, treatises, manifestos, letters, comics, and illustrated travel diaries from fifty different contributors.

There’s stunning new work from writers who we’ve long published—Jonathan Lethem, Lydia Davis, Sherman Alexie, Etgar Keret, Sheila Heti, Diane Williams, Sarah Vowell, John Hodgman, Steven Millhauser (among many others)—and fantastic new writing from authors who we’ve long admired, including Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Thomas McGuane, Kevin Young, and Carrie Brownstein.

The physical object that will contain all this great work will be a sturdy and beautiful hardcover book—something to behold and something to keep. Plus, the dust jacket folds out into a poster by Tucker Nichols that can gaze down at you from above your breakfast nook, bathtub, gift-wrapping station, or wherever you’d like to be reminded of 50 glorious issues of McSweeney’s Quarterly.

Genres: Fiction

300 pages, Hardcover

First published August 15, 2017

About the author

Dave Eggers is an American writer, editor, and publisher. He is best known for his 2000 memoir, A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, which became a bestseller and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction. Eggers is also the founder of several notable literary and philanthropic ventures, including the literary journal Timothy McSweeney's Quarterly Concern, the literacy project 826 Valencia, and the human rights nonprofit Voice of Witness. Additionally, he founded ScholarMatch, a program that connects donors with students needing funds for college tuition. His writing has appeared in numerous prestigious publications, including The New Yorker, Esquire, and The New York Times Magazine.

Reviews

[A-ron · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'd say this is a rather uneven edition of McSweeney's. It really took a while to get rolling (excluding the letters, I didn't like anything before page 65), but the good stuff was very good. I'm tempted to even knock this down to three stars, because the bad was really bad here (I couldn't finish some of the selections) and I'd say I disliked more pages than I liked. The more traditional stories worked best for me, honestly. Some of the many highlights include:

Sophia Foster-Dimino's heartbreaking commentary on time and routine "Before I met you"

Dan Kennedy's series of workplace signs were hilarious.

"Deliver me" by Sherman Alexie, a great story of life incompetence had some great characters (especially the owner of the pizza joint). It was a very McSweeney's-ey story.

Jesse Ball and Brian Evenson's "The Deaths of Henry King" were really fun.

Carrie Brownstein's "The Lace Shirt" was a fun little memoir.

I liked the character dynamics of Thomas McGuane's "Little Big Horn".

Andrew Leland's essay about how blindness makes you view the world as art was an interesting perspective on life.

Jamees Folta's fake Caravaggio diary, explaining that his groundbreaking painting style was not a choice, but the unfortunate result of not being able to afford candles was hilarious.

Kevin Moffett's "On Screen" about a man figuring out how to cry on the command of his son was fun.


Harris Durrani's "Forty two reason you girlfriend works for the the FBI, etc." was a great naive, yet insightful look at biracial relationships was incredible.

"Orange Julius", Kristen Iskandrian's exploration of the conflicts of motherhood was great.

Benjamin Percy's essay on the importance and dangers of Secret Rooms was great.

Rebecca Curtis's crowdfunding plea for a pool boy in her Manhattan apartment was a lot of fun.

One of my favorites was Carson Mell's "The Truth" about a woman questioning the honesty of her husband.

The final essay by Eduardo Berti was very enjoyable as well.

[Scott · Rating 2 out of 5]

The worst McSweeneys. Too many self-involved hipsters of various generations trying too hard to be clever and usually failing.

[Greg · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m not sure why I waited so long to become a subscriber to McSweeney’s Quarterly Concern but I’m definitely glad I did. Like all collections, some pieces resonated with me more than others. What struck me most was the diversity of entries which I think was the idea with this issue. I’ve started a collection of back issues and have so far acquired 11 of the 49. Not sure when I’ll find time to read them all but I’m sure looking forward to it!

[Brian · Rating 2 out of 5]

This felt like reading a yearbook written by all the cool kids from an MFA program who are trying to be clever. And maybe they are clever, I did not have the patience to find out after reading the letters to the editor and a few stories. On to the next.

[Ostap Bender · Rating 4 out of 5]

As always, McSweeney’s is intelligent without being pretentious, hip without being hipster, and relevant without preaching. The authors and stories it publishes are inclusive, and vary in delightful ways. One minute you’re reading a humorous take on something like office etiquette, and the next you’re touched in some subtle way by something profound or poetic in one of its stories.

Publishing 50 authors for issue #50 was a sweet thought as all are ‘friends’ of the McSweeney’s family, but doing this by definition meant that contributions were be shorter, and I probably would have preferred more that were meatier, as in other issues. On the other hand, some of my favorite pieces were quite short, so what do I know? Quality level was consistently high, and as I read, I got the warm feeling I always get with McSweeney’s. Subscribing is a joy, and I can’t recommend it more.

Favorites:
The letter to the editor from John Hodgman, formerly of the Daily Show, giving the perspective of a 50-something, in part humiliating with his flirt/joking with a young woman (a true lol moment), and in part liberating with the perspective he now has.

‘Thank You for Your Patience’, by Steven Millhauser, with a woman’s mind wandering to dating when younger, and her hidden frustrations with how it worked out, all while being on hold on the phone.

‘Nancy, All Too Nancy’, by Jonathan Lethem, a play on ‘Human, All Too Human’ by Nietzsche in the form of philosophical captions placed under cartoon stills from ‘Nancy’ by Ernie Bushmiller. Brilliant.

‘Before I Met You’, by Sophia Foster-Dimino, a brilliant, sweet short cartoon about those magical dilation of time when you fall in love - my favorite thing in the book.

‘The Lace Shirt’, by Carrie Brownstein, a touching story of growing up awkward, winning a lace top that Cher had worn at a radio show, and having a little bit of secret glam tucked away. Loved.

‘Jordan Teller’, by Sheila Heti, where the effect of a disturbing violation is amplified by how feelings are conflicted, and by how it’s just barely hidden from family members.

‘Self-Portrait in an Open Medicine Cabinet’, by Andrew Leland, a sophisticated piece which, as the subtitle explains, is about ‘How going blind is like looking at good art’.

‘Forty-Two Reasons Your Girlfriend Works for the FBI, CIA, NSA, ICE, S.H.I.E.L.D., Fringe Division, Men in Black, or Cylon Overlords’, by Haris A. Durrani, a very clever account of a high school romance in a nearly all-white town from the perspective of a smart and nerdy Muslim guy.

‘Orange Julius’, by Kirsten Iskandrian, a very blunt and honest account of a mother trying to stay sane when motherhood does not come naturally to her.

‘The Love Song of J. Alfred Trump’, by Wendy Molyneux, a takeoff on the Prufrock poem by T.S. Eliot in which Molyneux interjects imagined lines from our 45th president into the verse – absolutely brilliant, and it was great re-reading the original poem as well.

‘The Six-Word Sequels to ‘For Sale: Baby Shoes, Never Worn’, by Keaton Patti, which was just that.

‘The Unknown Masterpiece’ by Honore de Balzac, with Endnotes by Valeria Luiselli which are funny, playful, and intelligent, both illustrating the truth of great art and the artistic tradition, as well as its pretentiousness and disingenuous positioning.

‘The Dispersing Journeys (Final Appendix)’, by Edouardo Berti, which had a number of dead-on truths for this reader, including the pathological need to have a current book, the ritual of selecting the next book and looking for a word or concept shared between consecutive books, invariably living a bit like a hermit, and the ‘atrocity’ of a spoiler placed in the introductory remarks for a book. Pretty clever little piece to end the issue.

Jeez, that’s a lot of favorites. Ah, well.

[Timons Esaias · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was McSweeney's Jubilee edition (their 50th), and it has so many of the hallmarks of a good McSweeney's. This one is a hardback with a slipcover, and the slipcover has two different cover pictures, wraparound (yes, I reversed it when I finished to show the other scene), with a full poster on one side of the cover and the two cover scenes and some comic strips on the other. A micro-fiction by Sarah Manguso is impressed into the front outside cover of the hardback. The inside has letters, essays, and all sorts of experimental thises and thats.

It has two of my favorite author bios, as well:

WENDY MOLYNEUX is a writer/producer on the TV show Bob's Burgers who got her start writing for McSweeney's Internet Tendency. In exchange, she has given McSweeney's her firstborn child, Durfa, who screams constantly and demands raw meats at all hours. Not all bargains work out well for everyone.

JONATHAN LETHEM is the author of many acclaimed novels, a number of grudgingly acknowledged short stories, and a few poems which are passed over in remorseful silence. He lives in Los Angeles and Maine.

I enjoy experimentation and imagination, both of which are staples at McSweeney's, and especially so in this crowded edition. Let me mention the ten that got my special attention.

Etgar Keret's "At Night" is a flash fiction that takes a surprising turn at the end. I will be holding this one up as an example, and a model.

"The Deaths of Henry King" by Jesse Ball & Brian Evenson - with illustrations by Lilli Carré - is a kind of list story, with 37 "Selected Demises" for the character who is a succession of characters of the same name, but differing fates.

Carrie Brownstein's "The Lace Shirt" is probably 'sudden fiction' length, and discusses the fate of a possibly famous piece of clothing. I teach the technique of imbuing an inanimate object with meaning and history, and this piece puts that front and center.

For fictionators, Thomas McGuane's "Little Big Horn" is worth studying for its oddball dialogue. It's a story that capitalizes on the uncomfortable situations that don't quite follow any rules at all.

Andrew Leland's "Self-Portrait in an Open Medicine Cabinet" is another use of inanimate objects to tell much of the story. In this case the story appears to be memoir/essay, subtitled "How Going Blind Is Like Looking at Good Art". [I say "appears to be" because McSweeney's has a longstanding policy against, usually, labeling fiction and non-fiction. While I understand an argument for that, I think it's unsound.]

Haris A. Durrani's breakout piece "Forty-Two Reasons Your Girlfriend Works for the FBI, CIA, NSA, ICE, S.H.I.E.L.D., Fringe Division, Men in Black, or Cylon Overlords" is reprinted here, and it's a stitch. It's also an experimental list fiction, with the 42 reasons numbered and accounted for, and a story building all the while. The device of numbered sections is also in the Ball/Evenson/Carré piece; Kevin Young's "Ten Commandments"; Valeria Luiselli's "Endnotes"; and Jonathan Lethem's "Nancy, All Too Nancy." Another example of the avant-garde all being innovative in the exact same way... But that didn't actually bother me.

The flash piece "Secret Room" by Benjamin Percy opens with, "Traditionally a husband begins constructing his secret room in the seventh year of his marriage, though some cannot wait." It then goes on to explain the natural laws of this phenomenon.

Rebecca Curtis's "Please Fund Me" takes the form of a crowdsourcing proposal for a narrator who desperately wants a pool boy. She doesn't have a pool, but having experienced the attentions of pool boys on a recent holiday, she realizes its necessity.

I got a very good laugh from James Folta's apparent memoir translation entitled "Caravaggio Apologizes for the Low Lighting." It explains how he was too poor for candles early on, and then he got known for his dark and dimly lit subjects. Ah, the burden of reputation.

Finally, I was amused by Jesse Jacobs's 24-frame "New Sport" comic. The sport begins on a soccer-type field, but is puzzle assembly, at least at first. Most football players will not be able to cope.

In my role as a teacher, I am often asked for example works to show differing approaches to short fiction -- especially flash fiction and sudden fiction. I have been referring folks specifically to Shapard & Thomas's New Sudden Fiction as a fine source, but now I'm going to add McSweeney's 50.

[Sammi Lim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gave McSweeney's Quarterly Concern another go—almost a decade (2018-2009=9 years) later and 21 issues down the line. What a flashback to that bleak day in the deserted dorms, which saw me frozen from the chill & numb with emotion, the latter accentuated by Issue 29. Genuinely hard to tackle, McSweeney's is oftentimes too 'real'–a reminder of man's pettiness and fundamentally flawed ways, which ought to be reassuring, but reminds me of life's futility. Life is shit tough enough as it is—call me a fool, but I'd rather not be told again or I'll waste away sooner.

'Self-Portrait In An Open Medicine Cabinet: How Going Blind Is Like Looking At Good Art' made this issue worth thumbing through. The author, who is slowly going blind, finds beauty in his decaying visuals brought on by his interminable disease. Morbid but motivating, it speaks for man's resilience and gives the reader (hello, me) a reason to 'hang on.'

Relatable quote: “Sundays are the midlife crisis of the week.” — Aparna Nancherla (p.20)

[Natalie S · Rating 3 out of 5]

Review score: 7.5/10

The McSweeney’s literary journal should come with a disclaimer like: “Expect the unexpected.” This quirky, quarterly journal is celebrating a milestone with its 50th edition. For the past 20 years this volume – which was founded by American author Dave Eggers (A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius) – has published new and edgy writers alongside established authors. The result is a mixed bag where essays, articles, comic strips and artworks are offered alongside each other, and many often resonate with different readers. The underlying thread is a dynamic and fresh approach to different ideas and how you render them.

To read the rest of this review please visit: http://magazine.100percentrock.com/re...

[Brandon Forsyth · Rating 3 out of 5]

This issue of McSweeney's took me almost as long to read as it took them to publish it! Standouts include Sophia Foster-Dimino's BEFORE I MET YOU, which encapsulates a whole life into two beautifully-paced graphic pages, Bianca Bagnarelli's stunning reversible cover/graphic short story, the microfiction of Lydia Davis, and Haris A. Durrani's 42 REASONS YOUR GIRLFRIEND WORKS FOR THE FBI, CIA, NSA, ICE, S.H.I.E.L.D., FRINGE DIVISION, MEN IN BLACK, OR CYLON OVERLORDS (which wears out its conceit quickly but is nonetheless extremely effective). There were more pieces in here that I disliked than liked, unfortunately, but bad McSweeney's is like bad pizza: even when it's bad it's good.

[Pia · Rating 2 out of 5]

Don’t normally review lit magazines I read, but this issue pissed me off enough to want to rant. Thank goodness I got this subscription as a gift, and thank god (I think) the subscription is ending. Only good thing was the letters. “Humor” pieces weren’t funny, experimental stuff wasn’t interesting, and the stories by the “staple” authors McSweeneys likes to publish (Lucy Corin, Edgar Keret, etc) felt like they were from their personal slush piles. Augh. How is this still considered a top-tier mag.

[J · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unfortunately I died immediately before reading the final ten words of this 50th anniversary issue of McSweeney's, but to the skeptical reader I reach out from the beyond to implore you to: compare the No. "2" of Jonathan Lethem's "Nancy, All Too Nancy" to the Balzac translation with incongruous footnotes, and then the inner rage of the final Oulipo piece. This to me sums up the McSweeney's project, which I may add I have been throughly enjoying through subscription and subscription-lapse (most of the times through financial necessity) for many years. I'm happy the world has McSweeney's.

[Ronald · Rating 3 out of 5]

Maybe this is an instance of being a victim of a history of success, but I ended up being lukewarm on McSweeney's 50. There was a lot of decent-to-good stuff in here, but nothing that particularly wowed me. There were also a few mild clunkers scattered about.

My underdeveloped theory is that, by casting such a wide net and getting a big number of contributors, the great folks behind McSweeney's ended up in a situation where the quantity became the focus of this issue at the slight expense of quality. I don't think that there should be any second-guessing in terms of what went in to compiling this issue. After all, the approach makes sense for an anniversary issue. In the end, though, while I enjoyed most of the issue, it left me a bit underwhelmed.

[Kirby · Rating 4 out of 5]

The stale vision of the story as 18 pages of male longing is happily (mostly!) absent from this issue. The short shorts are where the energy is, surprising and language-y and adroit. (In particular: Manguso, Corin, Sharpe, Vallianatos, and Ball/Evenson.) These pieces dispense with the clumsy mechanics of plot: their logic is internal. Exciting work, and not surprising to see that McSweeney's gets it.

[Jim Lang · Rating 4 out of 5]

McSweeney's big fiftieth issue has some great surprises in it (work by Keret, Adichie, and Alexie stand out), but it kind of fizzles towards the end, with a heavily annotated piece by Balzac that is kind of boring. Still, it's nice to see that McSweeney's is back on track (I have two more volumes waiting for me to get to) after such a long hiatus.

[Matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great issue from a great magazine. Lots of moving short stories & poems. My favorites were:

- Details (Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie)
- Nancy, All Too Nancy (Jonathan Lethem)
- Orange Julius (Kristen Iskandrian)

All the comics were good/heartfelt/interesting too (Before I Met You / New Sport / Some Drawings in Japan).

[Kathryn · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found this particular McSweeney's rather difficult on several levels. The different included stories were hit or miss, and the misses were really big misses. I alternated between enjoying a story or two, and then slogging through the rest. Overall, can't say I would recommend this particular issue, though there were several great stories within.

[Christopher Ryan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dunno what happened with this edition, but the stories were frivolous and unsatisfying. Big time (canceled) authors like Sherman Alexie telephoned in longer, unimpressive works, while others managed to squeeze in some more compact turds. I'm a huge fan of this publication, but this put a sour taste in my mouth.

[Melissa Reddish · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love McSweeney's, but since this issue is comprised entirely of solicited stories from seasoned writers, they are technically fine but lacking heart and power. It's probably less grueling to omit the slush pile entirely, but on the whole, it created a weaker issue.

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sort of a hall of fame outing, with big names from the old days of the journal showing up for letters, short stories, or poetry. And new people too though not many that really landed well. My favorite is the Balzac story with fictional end notes.

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

My first McSweeney's in a while ... enjoyable collection of different styles of work. I don't know if there was any one story that completely wowed me, but I enjoyed the issue. I think I've read about 35 of the first 50 issues and I'm really glad I have.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

A true feat of literary will!

[Mills College Library]

Fiction M1755j 2017