Tin House Magazine, Volume 16, Issue 2, Winter 2014: #62 Winter Reading 2014

Tin House #62

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

You won't have to search for excuses to stay in this winter. With engaging prose, poetry, and interviews from established writers you love and new voices you're bound to fall in love with, this issue of Tin House is brimming with literature that ignites your imagination and provokes your senses.

Genres: Fiction

224 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 2014

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

[A-ron · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this one better than the previous issue. Not all the stories were amazing, but most had admirable qualities. "The Jar of Water" by Ursula K. Le Guin felt like it should have been more than it was, but I went along for the ride. Alejandro Zambra's offering was well written (I love the sound of his prose), but the story itself was lacking. Dean Bakopoulos's list of regrets were fantastic, hilarious, even though the story lacked a strong plot. The best story to me was "K-I-S-S-I-N-G" by Rebecca Makkai. It tackled a lot of conflicts in a very vibrant and entertaining story filled with complex characters. None of the poetry did it for me, but I only read Tin House for the prose anyway.

[Jason McKinney · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 1/2 stars. I was impressed by most of the stories here, in particular, Rebecca Makkai's K-I-S-S-I-N-G. I'm not the biggest poetry fan, but I found quite a few of the poems here quite good. This is my first issue of Tin House and I'm looking forward to my next one.

[Eric · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic edition. The John Koethe poems, "The Physical Eternal" and "Miss Heaton", are quite powerful. "Kissing", "The Waking", "Too Few To Mention", "In Any Light", "The Jar of Water", "The Point of Roughness" - all superb.

[Troy Ketch · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent stories by Ursula Le Guin, Josh Weil, and others. This one is worth getting.

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great issue overall with an excellent story by Ursula Le Guin

[gillianmarie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great issue... my faves were:

The Jar of Water - Ursula K. LeGuin
The Point of Roughness - Josh Weil
In Any Light, By Any Name - Alia Volz