McSweeney's #59

McSweeney’s Quarterly Concern #59

by Claire Boyle (Editor), Dave Eggers (Editor), Oyinkan Braithwaite (Contributor)

The 59th issue of McSweeney's National Magazine Award-winning quarterly is a back to basics collection of cutting edge literary fiction. Featuring the conclusions to Issue 57's cliffhanger stories by Booker Prize nominee Oyinkan Braithwaite, Brian Evanson, and Mona Awad.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction

346 pages, Paperback

First published March 3, 2020

Reviews

[Paul Dembina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not a bad selection. The 3 cliffhangers were pretty good but my favourite story was Coma by AE Stout, an interesting take on mania. The worst was probably To Buffalo Eastward by Gabriel Bump, it degenerated into pseudo-mystical drug-induced rambling.

[derek allard · Rating 4 out of 5]

This volume is one of the best I’ve read from McSweeney’s. How have I been unaware of Julie Hecht until now? Ridiculous.

[Jayme · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was pretty lukewarm on the short story selection in this collection, but I did love the non-fiction and cliffhanger stories. The photography collection was pretty cool too.

The non-fiction included four essays on ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) cases, all of them excellent: Jacqueline Woodson on the Scottsborough Boys' case from the 1930s; Charlie Jane Anders on trans rights; Neil Gaiman on censorship; and Dave Eggers on police interrogation and confession (Miranda rights).

The cliffhangers were story conclusions from McSweeney's #57, with Mona Awad's Wilder Man, being my personal favourite--an adulterous, booze-soaked woman is abandoned by her husband, who disappears into the woods and only communicates by posting his own survivalist YouTube videos, emulating a popular TV survivalist.

Out of the main body of stories, I think the only one I really loved was also the weirdest. Carlea Holl-Jensen's The Famous Writer's Ashes, which is about a dude who wants to fuck a famous writer's ashes.

And a note on the publishing of this issue: I didn't like it. Was it cool to look at? Yes. Was it fun to read? No. Each of the sections is a different sized paper, which makes the whole thing awkward to hold and turn pages. And the cliffhanger section is on shiny silver paper that gave me a headache to read :(

[Drew · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the better collections, on the whole, that they've put out in a while. It only loses a star because while the design choice was an intriguing one (each section is cut to a different trim size, but everything is bound together), in practice it makes for an issue that gets beat up a bit more easily than one would hope.

Particularly loved the photography and the ACLU excerpts, in addition to the conclusions of the cliffhangers from two issues ago!

[Nells · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wasn’t able to read issue #59 but I did encounter Gabriel Bump’s To Buffalo Eastward (that was first published in this issue) in The Best American Short Stories 2021 edited by Jesmyn Ward. It was a fascinating read very much like Denis Johnson’s work. So if you liked it you might want to look at Johnson. Great read! I haven’t finished the BASS 2021 collection but so far so good.

[James Kingman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Uneven, but not without bangers,
The best of this was the cliffhangers,
Great for collections,
This set of selections,
Can fill you with hope or with anger.

[Adam Wickliffe · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting read, but sometimes it was difficult to get into some of the short stories because you just couldn’t catch what was going on until you were halfway through the story. “Coma,” by A.E. Stout, was a particularly interesting entry—showing someone paying specific attention to everything in his life except for what was most-important a d right in front of him. The three stories continued from Issue 57 were the highlight of the issue and most developed. The format of the book with super-small pages at the beginning made reading more of a chore than it should have been—perhaps the editor wanted us to feel discomfort reading. This was my second Quarterly Concern and while I know quirk is a defining characteristic, this issue could have stood to make some improvements before publishing.

[Ostap Bender · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice mix of short stories, photo art, letters to the editor, and previews of coming stories from the good folks at McSweeney’s. There were no home runs this go around but the overall quality is pretty good, and these were my favorites:

In Search of a Better Ending by Annesha Mitha
The Asylum by Julie Hecht
The Famous Writer’s Ashes by Carlea Holl-Jensen
Letters to the editor from Rufi Thorpe, probably my favorite of all, and makes me want to read one of her books.
And last but certainly not least, the fantastic excerpts from Fight of the Century: Writers Reflect on 100 Years of Landmark ACLJ cases, with those cited by Jacqueline Woodson and Dave Eggers really standing out.

[Kayleigh · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like the format of this issue, with different sections having different sized pages but all bound in one book. Loved the cliffhanger endings from issue 57 beginnings, and some fun letters at the beginning. I was unpleasantly surprised by most of the stories though, which was a bummer. Anjali Sachdeva's "supply and demand" was an exception. And I liked the section on landmark ACLU cases- relevant and interesting!

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Almost every story was totally engrossing, although there were a few duds. I didn't understand the photo story and one section just felt like ads for other books. The formatting drove me nuts, especially the silver pages. But I appreciated being able to read the first half of the cliffhangers on their website and finish them in the book. They were all great. Overall, a solid issue.

[Robbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Though I am not entirely unfamiliar with McSweeney's, this marks the first issue of my Quarterly Concern subscription. A collection of fantastic stories. Some were misses for me, but most hit the mark. I found the ACLU revisit pieces to be rather rambling. Love the format of the printing. Overall happy to have subscribed.

[Melanie Rogers · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic Issue. In particular I loved The End of the Party, the first letter about chasing the armadillo, and the Cliffhangers.

My only complaint about the issue is the style of binding. The pages being different sized caused a considerable amount of wear on the different sections and lost me for the photo piece.

In all, a solid issue.

[Greg · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really appreciated the eclecticism of this issue, both in form and format. The physical manifestation of the book paired well with the contents which was neat. The stories were great but I really liked the ACLU case reviews, mostly by writers I already admire, and the cliffhanger conclusions were very satisfying though I had to go back and reread their first parts.

[Brandon Forsyth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Standouts for me here are THE FAMOUS WRITER’S ASHES by Carlea Holl-Jensen (a haunting quality to this story that reminded me of the best Cronenberg), the excerpts from the ACLU book (always love non-fiction in my McSweeney’s), and the conclusions to all three cliffhangers, particularly Mona Awad’s. Loved the mix of genres here even if the bulk of the stories were forgettable.

[Brian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic collection - strong reccomend

[Kathryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent collection with several really good pieces. Enjoyed the ACLU based reflections as well as the cliffhangers and a few others thoroughly.

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

I expected to enjoy the ACLU summaries more, but they didn’t teach me as much about the trials as I expected, more about personal ramifications. And the three best stories were split with issue 57.

[Jim Lang · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is another very good issue of McSweeney's. I was happy to read the end of the three cliffhanger stories, and generally liked everything I read.

[Myles · Rating 4 out of 5]

i liked this one better than most. The Brian Evenson story was probably my favorite.

[Gerard Van Elzen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another one with a really fun design!
Best story in my mind: Anjali Sachdeva "Supply and Demand", Runner up: A.E.Stout "Coma".

[elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a new experience for me for Read Harder - "Read an edition of a literary magazine" - I bought the physical one, and I've read a ton of McSweeney's on the website, but reading the full thing was really lovely. I liked every single piece.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars.

My favorite McSweeney's collection I've read in a while, and the first one that hasn't been on a particular theme (most recent ones I've picked up were #58, fiction about climate change, and #54, nonfiction about privacy and surveillance). I particularly liked the way this one was published, with different sections—letters, stories, photography, and the final halves of three "cliffhanger" stories—printed on different sizes, types, and colors of paper, but all bound together in a single volume.

(Read Harder challenge #23: An edition of a literary magazine)