McSweeney's Issue 75: First Fiction

McSweeney’s Quarterly Concern #75

by Eli Horowitz (Editor)

In a June 2023 submission call for new work by never-before-published writers, McSweeney’s received thousands of submissions in a single month. The stories in this issue (our seventy-fifth, an almost unfathomable milestone) are the crème de la crème of that bounty.

Guest-edited by longtime McSweeney’s editor Eli Horowitz, our seventy-fifth issue contains ten radiant stories, each published as an individual booklet with stunning art by ten different artists. All ten booklets are collected inside a beautiful and sturdy and elaborately foil-stamped dossier-like case, which opens (rather extravagantly) to reveal a series of accordion pockets—each one containing a pair of booklets—and snaps shut (rather satisfyingly) with a magnetic closure.

In these brilliant literary debuts there are fish guts, meteor hunters, military coups, ghost towns, and fake orphans. The stories, whose authors and settings span continents, dazzle in their originality of vision and voice. They announce themselves with bravado, excellence, and energy. In his introduction to the issue, Horowitz writes, “I’m not sure what set of circumstances allowed these wizards to escape previous publication—youth? shyness? vast conspiracies?—but the wait is over: they have arrived.” Get this issue for eternal bragging rights of being present at the ground floor of each of these ten writers’ sure-to-be-storied futures.

Genres: Short Stories, Literature

236 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2024

About the author

Eli Horowitz is the co-creator of The Silent History, a digital novel; The Clock Without a Face, a treasure-hunt mystery; and Everything You Know Is Pong, an illustrated cultural history of table tennis. He was the managing editor and then publisher of McSweeney’s; his design work has been honored by I.D., Print and the American Institute of Graphic Arts. Previously, he wrote science trivia questions based on popular films of the 1990s and was briefly employed as an apprentice carpenter. He was born in Virginia and now lives in Northern California.

Reviews

[Paul Dembina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Whilst all quite competently written I feel there's a lot of similarity between these stories. Could it be because the majority are written by MFA students/graduates?

I'm looking for something a bit more distinctive than this.

[Nathan Holic · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brilliant production and design. Incredibly inspiring to see what they’re doing for emerging authors.

“Slip Needs Kick” and “Specimen” were really the two standouts for me, but a lot to recommend in this volume.

[Ostap Bender · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the more enjoyable recent installments from McSweeney’s, this issue focuses on first-time authors, edited by Eli Horiwitz who was around for the first issue (and so jokes that he’ll be back for #149). It’s presented in an accordion like box, with each of the ten stories separately bound.

Favorites:
- Slip Needs Kick, by Sam Davis, which has a boy arriving in Tennessee from Chicago to live with his uncle, a pawnbroker, for disciplinary reasons, and hanging out with a couple of kids. A nice coming of age type story with all three already leading somewhat fractured lives.

- Specimens, by Sam Krowchenko, which is about an assistant to a ‘mad scientist’ conducting brain research on corpses, one which seeks to keep memories alive by transplanting them into the minds of living people.

- Gray, Cotton, White Lace Edges, by Isabelle Fang, which I was surprised I ended up liking, because it’s about a young woman’s relationship with an older man she’s sold used panties to over the years (eww). She’s also working on the production crew of a reality TV show which has an older man seeking a prenup before he marries a young woman, and it’s through the two relationships we see a certain pathos.

- Small Mistakes in the Scheme of Things, by Stephanie Skaff, in which a young woman struggling to make ends meet takes a job of walking on stilts as part of a bank promotion despite never having walked on them before. I loved Skaff’s clever way with words.

Also good:
- Procurement and Transport, by Brittany Price, about a young couple who try to track down meteorites to sell them, and are joined by her ex-lover, a woman who’s also an employee of his. I loved how this gradually revealed the problems in the couples’ relationship, and how it finished.

- Gutting and Scooping, by Hrannar Bjornsson, about a young man who is nearing graduation and despite having aptitude in some of the (rather disgusting) tasks processing raw fish in the village, has dreams of doing something else. His guidance counsellor tries talking him into it. Great concept, but could have used a little more fleshing out.

- A Resting Place, by Celine Ipek, about a couple who go away to a relaxation retreat, where they meet other couples and a new-age therapist. We see differences in class and get a sense of quiet desperation in the woman in what is supposed to be a healing place.

[Timons Esaias · Rating 5 out of 5]

My students and followers will know that I've been a McSweeney's fan from the second issue, though I'm sometimes slow to read them cover-to-cover. Happily I got to this one before decades had passed.

This is a winner, even though it doesn't have the normal McSweeney's attributes of a Letters section and detailed front matter. The idea of beating the bushes (and they have the connections for this) for as-yet-unpublished story writers is a great idea, and it fits with their philosophy of looking for new folks and outlier folks rather than being a Big Names Only club.

Some of the contributors are established writers in other fields, or are teachers, but I don't see that as any form of cheating. Writing short fiction is a whole different thing, and a first publication is a Big Deal.

I can be fairly picky about short fiction, especially in Literary outlets, but there wasn't a clunker in the group. And they weren't average, either. Very imaginative, very solid. Almost all of them took the finish to a finish, rather that being fashionably truncated.

Sam Krowchenko's "Specimens" is a Gothic Horror-ish tale, with an interesting POV view of things.

Brittany Price's "Procurement and Transport" is perhaps a touch Magical Realism or Science Fiction, but it's mostly realist weirdness.

Will Lowder's "Puck Fest" is a bit coming-of-age in a Carnival setting, and you ache for the character.

Chii Ọganihu's "The Teacher of Forbidden Things" is tragic and uplifting, while Isabelle Fang's "Gray, Cotton, White Lace Edges" uses characters you don't expect to see in Literary fiction, especially treated sympathetically.

Stephanie Skaff's narrator in "Small Mistakes in the Scheme of Things" has the best line of the whole issue, I think: "I carried with me the constant feeling that I was unqualified for my own existence."

Hrannar Björnsson's "Gutting and Scooping" is a satire, and it's a stitch.

[A-ron · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's very easy to judge McSweeney's on their design, one of the reason they're the only lit mag I have a subscription for, despite it not necessarily being my favorite literature-wise. I hoard them on my shelf to display all the funky choices they've made over the years. This issue had a great design, with a fold-out accordion box with individual books to every story with a cover illustrating scenes or moods from the stories. I'd be a fan of this issue even if the literature was poor. Thankfully, it was quite good. This featured first fiction, not that one could tell that these authors have no credits to their names. No duds here, but some highlights include:

Slip Need Kick by Sam Davis about a young jewish kid "Fresh Princing" it with his pawn shop uncle in a small town, and the strange friends that only the new kids seem to make.

Puck Fest by Will Lowder about a class trip to a renaissance fair.

Procurement and Transport by Brittany Price about a woman's relationship with a local mafia leader in dystopian future.

Gray, Cotton, White Lace Edges by Isabelle Fang about a young woman's friendship of sorts with a man who regularly purchases her used panties. Probably my personal favorite of the bunch.

Diablo Winds by Maya Sisneros about a young woman's relationship with her upbringing and the struggles of moving on.

[Una Mackenzie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Absolutely adore the accordion box these stories come in and it’s colorful cover art by Elena Boils. When getting into it I wasn’t aware of this issue being a collection of stories by barely published authors though it adds up regarding the narratives focusing often on young adult’s or children’s experiences.

Would love to especially read more by Chii Oganihu who contributed *The Teacher of forbidden Things* and am very curious about where the life of Brittany Price characters in *Procurement and Transport* is turning. And *Specimens* by Sam Krowchenko felt like a very nicely rounded up Dr Frankenstein story.

[RJ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really great first fiction. Certainly I would be interested in reading more from several of these authors. Some of my favorite stories were about teenagers at a Renaissance fair, an Igor-like assistant to a scientist in a medieval setting, and a young girl who engages in the exciting and lucrative world of used underwear.

[Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Strongest collection I've seen in some time from McSweeney's. I'm hard-pressed to call one a dud.

Each story was written by an unpublished writer, and I look forward to seeing more of their work in future issues of McSweeney's. The stories are presented in a great accordion-style box.

[Brandon Fogel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve always wanted to read McSweeneys and I am so glad I started with this one. Stand out hits to me were:
gutting and Scooping - Hrannar Bjornsson
The Teacher of Forbidden Things - Chii Oganihu
Gray, Cotton, White Lace Edges - Isabelle Fang
Procurement and Transport - Brittany Price

[Brian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting new authors in an exceptional accordian box

[D'Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

A particularly good issue.

[Kaylee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finally spent a day reading this edition! Can't say I had a favorite in this batch - but there were bits of many that have stuck with me.

[Greg · Rating 4 out of 5]

These are all decent stories, especially for first-time writers. The packaging and covers for the individual booklets were absolutely beautiful.

[Vladimir Ghinculov · Rating 4 out of 5]

Issue 75 of McSweeney's is dedicated to ten authors' absolute debuts. Some stories are good, some exceptional. I must mention Brittany Price's Procurement and Transport and Isabelle Fang's Gray, Cotton, White Lace Edges, but my favorite is Specimens by Sam Krowchenko.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ten solid stories with a few that really hit me hard all in beautiful and thoughtful packaging; it's simple but it's sometimes when McSweeney's is at its best.

[Alissa Sheldon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Had high hopes for this 75th issue, and was not disappointed. Beautiful works of fiction, wonderfully curated and packaged. Well done, McSweeneys!!

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

All fiction by new authors, and engaging throughout ... high-quality McSweeney's and I'm glad I'm reading the magazine again.

[Valerie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another fantastic McSweeney’s, this time featuring entirely debut authors. Happy 75 issues.