McSweeney's #62: The Queer Fiction Issue

McSweeney’s Quarterly Concern #62

by Patrick Cottrell (Editor), Dave Eggers (Editor), Claire Boyle (Editor)

McSweeney’s 62: The Queer Fiction Issue collects absurd, bold, bleak, humorous, and astonishing works of fiction and art by queer writers of all orientations. Inside this luxurious hardcover, you’ll find stories about storm chasers and Colombian supermodels, about talking plants and DIY bands and camboys and encounters with the dead. Contributors include Bryan Washington, Eileen Myles, Kristen Arnett, Sarah Gerard, Juli Delgado Lopera, Gabby Bellot, Denne Michele, Emma Copley Eisenberg, K-Ming Chang, and many more, with dazzling full-color illustrations throughout by Derek Abella. Guest-edited and featuring an introduction by Patrick Cottrell, and filled to a surfeit with letters, stories, and dazzling full-color comics and art, you’ll be jealously hoarding this collection for decades to come.

Featuring original stories by:
Eileen Myles
Bryan Washington
Emma Copley Eisenberg
Christopher James Llego
K-Ming Chang
Venita Blackburn
hurmat kazmi
Juli Delgado Lopera
Kristen N. Arnett
Gabrielle Bellot
Paul Dalla Rosa
Timi Odueso
Kayla Kumari Upadhyaya
Vi Khi Nao
Denne Michele
Sarah Gerard
Bridget Brewer

Full-color comics by:
Garrett Young
Lee Lai

Full-color illustrations throughout by:
Derek Abella

And letters by:
RL Goldberg
Amanda Monti
Aarushi Agni
Drew Pham
Emerson Whitney

Cover by:
Angie Wang

Title-page and table-of-contents illustrations by:
Ariel Davis

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, LGBT, Queer, Anthologies, Literary Fiction, Queer Lit

296 pages, Hardcover

First published November 24, 2020

Reviews

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed these stories the most:

Palaver - Bryan Washington
Trial of Ghosts - Venita Blackburn
Bulldogs - Kristen N. Arnette
Peppersoup - Timi Odueso
The Plant Game - Kayla Kumari Upadhyaya
Glass - Sarah Gerard

[Lex · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a gorgeous and unapologetic exploration of queer narratives; I thoroughly enjoyed almost all of the stories, proving again the value of our rich life experiences and stories to tell within the community. More specifically, I loved none of the stories had a focus on the "digestible" expressions of the LGBTQ+ community (ie. coming out/identity crisis narratives) and told loud and whispering stories of all differing genres and perspectives. Particularly close to my heart are the stories "The Geodic Body", "Peppersoup", "Bulldogs" and "Trial of Ghosts", for their aesthetic and narrative merit, beautiful language and magical realism always gets me in the gut. Shout out to my beloved Peta who lent this to me xx

[Peta Garside · Rating 5 out of 5]

This whole collection is so eclectic, eccentric and well um gay. When I say I've never read stories like this before, I mean it, they were so unique and well written. Although content warning for sexual assault and abuse

[Timons Esaias · Rating 5 out of 5]

Aesthetic warning: if you are like me, and wearied by so much literary fiction being about sexual behavior, well, this volume will not be what you are looking for. By its nature, this issue is about gender preference, and therefore sexual behavior is repeatedly key.

That said, I found the second story (Bryan Washington's "Palavar") to be an excellent two-exclam story, and I've created a teaching document about it. This is how it begins:

He made his mother a deal: for every story he told, she'd give him one of her own.
That's hardly fair, she said.
Bullshit, he said.

I was amused by Timi Odueso's "Peppersoup" which has a surprise detail at the end. So does Kayla Kumari Upadhyaya's "The Plant Game" that also earned an exclam. It starts out as a quiet story, then issues build.

[for my students I should probably mention that this whole volume seems to be grimace-free]

Vi Khi Nao's "Lonely Not Like a Cloud" also stood out. "I Know How This Dream Ends" is another quiet story, which has drama, but it's all off the page. Worth studying.

Sarah Gerard's "Glass" got the note "Ouch!" for its sharp crescendo and open ending. Memorable.

So I subtract a star for subject matter repetition, and add the star back for some surprising storytelling.

Also, I will say that anyone with literary writing pretensions should be a subscriber. You just should.

[Robbie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not my cup of tea, but a few great stories.

Favorites, in order of appearance:
Palaver
Bulldogs
Short Stack (this one hit particularly hard)
The Plant Game
I Know How This Dream Ends

[Cassi · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5/5. There were a few stories I liked, and quite a few I didn’t, and some that had such jarringly misplaced metaphors that I couldn’t tell whether I actually enjoyed the story or not. But for me the bigger problem was that in 280-some pages of queer stories, not a single person or relationship is happy and healthy. Why can this volume of queer fiction imagine all kinds of magic, but not queer people who aren’t self-destructive or miserable or somehow abused by their partners?

[Henry Hicks · Rating 4 out of 5]

“The future of queer fiction grows like a weed, like a rhizome: a holy plant splitting concrete patiently, radically, centering each of its shoots, blooming in ways that look strange and grotesque to the pedestrians who try to grind it back into the pavement.”

[Mike Garrett · Rating 5 out of 5]

These are some of the best short stories I've read in a long time. The Chorus of Dead Cousins was especially good. Twins broke my brain a bit.

[Sarah Cavar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid curation! The final four stories were highlights.

[Charlott · Rating 4 out of 5]

3,5

[Emily Grace · Rating 4 out of 5]

𝘐𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯.⁣

This isn't a review, this is a PSA to get yourself a copy of this anthology before it's gone for good. If you already read a lot of queer fiction, but especially if you haven't, I recommend this collection. I was so happy to get a wee bit more from some of my favorite authors, and if these authors are new to you I think you'll find yourself some new favorites as well! The printing of this book is impeccable, filled with beautiful color illustrations and the occasional comic which made it such a joy to read and own. Swipe to see some examples 👉🏻⁣
⁣
Like any anthology some stories resonated with me more than others so here's a list of some that stood out to me (in order of printing):⁣
⁣
💜 𝘗𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘳 by Bryan Washington⁣
💜 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘶𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘋𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘊𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘴 by K-Ming Chang⁣
💜 𝘉𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘥𝘰𝘨𝘴 by Kristen Arnett⁣
💜 𝘚𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘤𝘬 by Paul Dalla Rosa⁣
💜 𝘎𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘴 by Sarah Gerard⁣
⁣
I'll definitely be reading more from these authors⁠—well, those who still have some backlist that I haven't already read. 'Til then, happy reading and happy Pride 🏳️‍🌈

[Molly Roach · Rating 5 out of 5]

McSweeney’s #62: The Queer Fiction Issue edited by Patrick Cottrell

Okayyyyyy I LOVED THIS. I really enjoy reading fiction anthologies that center around a specific topic - they let us as readers explore so many different interpretations of a theme all in one volume. When I came across this anthology of queer fiction, of course I scooped it right up. There isn’t one piece in here that I didn’t enjoy, but I did have a few favorites which were: Palaver by Bryan Washington, Swiffer Girl by Emma Copley Eisenberg, Trials of Ghosts by Venita Blackburn, Bulldogs by Kristen Arnett, Peppersoup by Timi Odueso, and The Plant Game by Kayla Kumari Upadhyaya.
Also, I absolutely loved the artwork that was included in the issue. The cover artwork is probably my favorite of all the books I’ve read thus far this year.
5/5⭐️

[Valerie · Rating 5 out of 5]

McSweeney's' always delivers beautiful short stories, and this issue is no exceptions. What made me particularly happy was several that dipped into the genre side of fiction with a healthy slice of magical realism and even some vampires. Some stories in this volumes are queer characters in queer stories. Others are queer characters who just happen to be queer in a story unrelated to their orientation/gender identity. I really enjoyed that balance, and I recommend McSweeney's to anyone who wants a quarterly burst of literary excellence.

[derek allard · Rating 4 out of 5]

As usual, some really awesome work in here. Bryan Washington’s “Palaver,” Garrett Young’s “Magdelane: Epilogue,” hurmat kazmi’s “The Wall,” Juli Delgado Lopera’s “Papi,” Paul Dalla Rosa’s “Short Stack,” and Bridget Brewer’s “The Geodic Body” all have double red stars in the table of contents (which is how I indicate oh wow stories). Keep up the good work, McSweeney!

[D · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the best issue of McSweeney's since the head-box. Maybe the best ever.

[Jim Lang · Rating 4 out of 5]

McSweeney's theme issues tend to land better lately. This is a very well-curated group of short stories, and I enjoyed reading it.

[Carolyn Knapp · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very solid and eclectic mix of stories, with some comics peppered in.

[Ostap Bender · Rating 4 out of 5]

An issue devoted to queer fiction, and I applaud the inclusion and continued warm spirit of McSweeney’s. How can you not love an organization whose purpose is “to champion ambitious and inspired new writing, and to challenge conventional expectations about where it’s found, how it looks, and who participates.” There are 19 short stories here, and while for me the mix was a little uneven, it’s enjoyable to read new voices and the breadth of the offerings, even within this framework.

My favorites:
Palaver, by Bryan Washington
Bulldogs, by Kristen N. Arnett, probably the one I liked most
The Cruel and Astonishing Tale of Imogen Cabral da Gama, by Gabrielle Bellot
Short Stack, by Paul Dalla Rosa
The Plant Game, by Kayla Kumari Upadhyaya

Honorable mention:
Docile Bodies, by Christopher James Llego
The Wall, by Hurmat Kazmi
Glass, by Sarah Gerard

[David Meyer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some of these I can't say I loved, but a few were great. The Plant Game stood out to me the most, managing to be intriguing and suspenseful. It may have been the only story in the book that I really care to know what happens next.

[Greg · Rating 3 out of 5]

The best part of this issue, to me, was the art. The cover is beautiful and the pieces that accompanied each story had a great style that connected everything together. The stories themselves were mixed but all were interesting enough to keep me reading.

[Hana Dewey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Favourites:
“Palaver” by Bryan Washington
“Docile Bodies” by Christopher James Llego
“The Plant Game” by Kayla Kumari Upadhyaya
“I Know How This Dream Ends” by Dennis Norris ll
“The Geodic Body” by Bridget Brewer

[Suzy · Rating 4 out of 5]

really loved savoring this collection throughout June.
favorites:
The Plant Game by Kayla Kumari Upadhyaya
The Chorus of Dead Cousins by K-Ming Chang
& the letter from Amanda Monti (later reformatted into this illustrated piece: https://theoffingmag.com/art/comics/t...)

[Bianca · Rating 3 out of 5]

Three stars because I disliked every single story in this collection, save for the final three. The last story especially— dark and fantastical, full of longing and a deep exhaustion, unlike anything I had read before.

[Monique Scheidler · Rating 3 out of 5]

hard to rate an anthology! some stories were 5 ⭐️ and some were 2! but a solid collection!
my faves:
- trial of ghosts by venita blackburn
- bulldogs by kristen arnett
- peppersoup by timi odueso

[Brian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wild collection of intersectionality with a large portion of fantastic

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent collection, from some authors I already loved (Washington, Gerard) and a bunch of new names I will remember.

[Carly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful collection of queer stories. My favorites were Twins by Eileen Myles, Trial of Ghosts by Venita Blackburn, Glass by Sarah Gerard, and The Plant Game by Kayla Kumari Upadhyaya

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Favorite story: Trial of Ghosts by Venita Blackburn and I Know How This Dream Ends by Dennis Norris II

IMO best stories: Palaver by Bryan Washington and The Geodic Body by Bridget Brewer

[josie · Rating 4 out of 5]

some stories amazing, some a bit drab. favorites were the chorus of dead cousins, the wall, peppersoup, the geodic body and i know how this dream ends.