Tin House Magazine, Volume 13, Issue 2, Winter 2011: #50 Beauty

Tin House #50

by Win McCormack (Editor), Paul Willems (Contributor), Edward Gauvin (Translator)

Francis Bacon put it best: “There is no excellent beauty that hath not some strangeness in the proportion.” Novelist and critic Marilynn Robinson brilliantly essays the notion of beauty and its role in our changing society. Poet Crystal Williams views the subject through the kaleidoscopic lens of race, while Aimee Bender talks with the artist Amy Cutler, whose off-kilter, imaginative work boils in the same cauldron as Bender’s fictions. The poets, naturally, are well-represented here, happily joining the ancient poetic cause. And just as unsurprisingly, the prose writers turn the notions of beauty inside-out. Maggie Shipstead chronicles a former child star’s fall from drug-addled “It Girl.” Michel Houellebecq sinks his teeth into the art world. And Eric Puchner spins a youth-only future. We are also delighted by beautiful math, Mumbai bar dancers, the science of sex, and even the letters of Burt Reynolds. We hope you find the issue as beautiful as strange and beautiful as we do.

220 pages, ebook

First published December 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

[reading is my hustle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've wondered about this publication for YEARS. It's offices are located in PDX and quite a few of the bookstores I frequent sell copies of it. It is published four times a year and I checked out the "Beauty" issue at a local library. I am so glad I did! The fiction, essays, and poetry are all stellar. I was blown away by Maggie Shipstead's short story on a Hollywood cult. Marilynne Robinson's essay "On "Beauty" is included in this issue, too. I had read it on the interwebs but enjoyed reading it in print. I even read the poetry.

I look forward to reading more issues.
Also, for what it is worth, this is perfect vacation reading material.

[Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

The story "Beautiful Monsters" by Eric Puchner earns the five stars on its own.

Otherwise, it's Tin House, so the writing itself is quality. But many of the pieces didn't necessarily strike me.