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McSweeney’s Quarterly Concern #35
McSweeney's Issue 35
With tremendous new stories from Steven Millhauser and Roddy Doyle, an epic, genre-shattering novella from Hilton Als, and a really excellent special section on Norway's finest writers (featuring not just Per Petterson but also Kid Icarus and a woman named Blind Margjit)along with, probably, correspondence from a man we can't yet name and an unbelievable disappearing-ink cover done by Jordan CraneIssue 35 is a full-to-bursting edition in the tradition of the best ones we've ever done. For several hundred pages of unrivaled summer reading, this is your book.
271 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2010
8 people are currently reading
162 people want to read
About the author
Dave Eggers
337 books9,463 followersDave Eggers is an American writer, editor, and publisher. He is best known for his 2000 memoir, A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, which became a bestseller and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction. Eggers is also the founder of several notable literary and philanthropic ventures, including the literary journal Timothy McSweeney's Quarterly Concern, the literacy project 826 Valencia, and the human rights nonprofit Voice of Witness. Additionally, he founded ScholarMatch, a program that connects donors with students needing funds for college tuition. His writing has appeared in numerous prestigious publications, including The New Yorker, Esquire, and The New York Times Magazine.
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
September 19, 2011
This edition of McSweeney's is a normal paperback issue but with a cute twist - the black part of the cover is made of invisible ink. That is, the black area disappears when you apply body heat to reveal fishies beneath, so when you're holding the book you get some interesting designs when you set it down.
Though you won't be doing much setting down as this is a great issue for fiction. Roddy Doyle contributes a funny story called "Local" about a black psychic woman who decides to get involved in the local election as a candidate. Patrick Crerard's delightfully batty "The Glory of Keys" tells an absurd story about a Pontiac Sunfire going to high school and becoming a successful football player. The artist Robert Barnes shows some drawings his did for his daughters' brown lunch bags when they went to school in the '80s and Dan Kennedy sends some letters detailing an encounter with a possible lunatic who's created a homemade submarine.
The real jewels in this excellent issue though are the Norwegian story contributions. A newly discovered witches' skull and a centuries old song about love is the subject of Hans Herbjornsrud's "On a Farmstead in Europe", while Johan Harstad's "Loophole" is about parallel universes at the bottom of the ocean. There's some great humour in Roy Jacobsen's "Alarm" which is about an old man out to get a help alarm for the elderly - and the shotgun he uses to get it. Ingvar Ambjornsen's "Another Star" is a great anti-christmas story about two drunks who dress up as WW2 Italian pilots, fall asleep in a snowdrift, and eat christmas dinner with the family who unearth them. It's got a really funny ending I loved. Gunnhild Oyehaug's "Two By Two" is a poignant and well written story about a married couple experiencing trouble with fidelity. There's a memorable discussion about Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes' marriage included.
There's also some Norwegian new poetry from Flamme Forlag - "Computer Love" is poetry written by those born in the early 80s and have always had computers in their lives. There's a great poem written from the perspective of a Sim from the game, "The Sims" and a poem about combo moves from the NES classic "Kid Icarus".
It's a greatly enjoyable and fun issue from the folks at McSweeney's. A lot of fantastic fiction from Norway means you can get hours of rewarding reading from the book and discover some interesting new writers. Recommended.
Though you won't be doing much setting down as this is a great issue for fiction. Roddy Doyle contributes a funny story called "Local" about a black psychic woman who decides to get involved in the local election as a candidate. Patrick Crerard's delightfully batty "The Glory of Keys" tells an absurd story about a Pontiac Sunfire going to high school and becoming a successful football player. The artist Robert Barnes shows some drawings his did for his daughters' brown lunch bags when they went to school in the '80s and Dan Kennedy sends some letters detailing an encounter with a possible lunatic who's created a homemade submarine.
The real jewels in this excellent issue though are the Norwegian story contributions. A newly discovered witches' skull and a centuries old song about love is the subject of Hans Herbjornsrud's "On a Farmstead in Europe", while Johan Harstad's "Loophole" is about parallel universes at the bottom of the ocean. There's some great humour in Roy Jacobsen's "Alarm" which is about an old man out to get a help alarm for the elderly - and the shotgun he uses to get it. Ingvar Ambjornsen's "Another Star" is a great anti-christmas story about two drunks who dress up as WW2 Italian pilots, fall asleep in a snowdrift, and eat christmas dinner with the family who unearth them. It's got a really funny ending I loved. Gunnhild Oyehaug's "Two By Two" is a poignant and well written story about a married couple experiencing trouble with fidelity. There's a memorable discussion about Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes' marriage included.
There's also some Norwegian new poetry from Flamme Forlag - "Computer Love" is poetry written by those born in the early 80s and have always had computers in their lives. There's a great poem written from the perspective of a Sim from the game, "The Sims" and a poem about combo moves from the NES classic "Kid Icarus".
It's a greatly enjoyable and fun issue from the folks at McSweeney's. A lot of fantastic fiction from Norway means you can get hours of rewarding reading from the book and discover some interesting new writers. Recommended.
June 25, 2015
This was a really lovely collection of work, and I especially enjoyed the Norwegian fiction at the end. Some of the Nordic poetry there made me want to set someone on fire (preferable the poet but, whoever, to be honest) but the stories were pretty great.
June 28, 2018
gonna reread phantoms one day but the rest was underwhelming for my first mcsweeneys collection
December 11, 2015
A nice collection. Half was dedicated to the usual McSweeney's stuff. The other was a Norwegian edition, focusing on the short fiction of Norway. This is one of my favorite features. Every year they do an issue on a different country (or nearly every year). Since I live in Norway, this had a special pull for me. The letters were hilarious, including a (probably) real-life story of an expedition in a homemade submarine and a discussion on the art of maid-of-honor toasts. Roddy Doyle is just a writer I can't seem to like. Never yet have I read something by him I've enjoyed. Hilton Als' hybrid non-fiction, novella started interesting, but just got too long in the end. The writing was top notch though. The Norwegian fiction was all good. Highlights from this issue:
"Phantoms" by Steve Millhauser was creepy, yet emotionally touching. The non-fiction structure was expertly used. A great short story.
"The Glory of Keys" by Patrick Crerand was hilarious and absurd. This was a great symbol to describe the impermanence of glory.
Laila Stein's fictional travelogue to Finnmark was fun, but predictable. Enjoyable nonetheless.
I enjoyed the story of Ingvar Ambjørnsen's story of a LSD-Christmas in "Another Star". Makes me excited to read the few books of his I have on the shelf.
Gunnhild Øyehaug's "Two by Two" was a great authentic study of infidelity. It may have gotten a bit too ambitious though. Still good.
"Phantoms" by Steve Millhauser was creepy, yet emotionally touching. The non-fiction structure was expertly used. A great short story.
"The Glory of Keys" by Patrick Crerand was hilarious and absurd. This was a great symbol to describe the impermanence of glory.
Laila Stein's fictional travelogue to Finnmark was fun, but predictable. Enjoyable nonetheless.
I enjoyed the story of Ingvar Ambjørnsen's story of a LSD-Christmas in "Another Star". Makes me excited to read the few books of his I have on the shelf.
Gunnhild Øyehaug's "Two by Two" was a great authentic study of infidelity. It may have gotten a bit too ambitious though. Still good.
September 27, 2011
This is my first experience with McSweeney's. I came to this through Dave Eggers' editorship, as he edits the Best American Nonrequired Reading series which is quite excellent.
As with any similar compendium of stories, this issue was hit or miss. Some of the stories I really enjoyed; "Loophole" by Johan Harstad, "Alarm" by Roy Jacobsen, "Two By Two" by Gunnhild Oyehaug, and the "Letters" section at the beginning of the issue were the highlights for me. "His Sister, Her Monologue" by Hilton Als was intriguing at the outset, thoughts from the perspective of comedian Richard Pryor's sister on sex, race, fame, entertainment and family, but the piece was far too long for my taste, and many of the sections dragged on. Steven Milhauser's "Phantoms" also has an interesting premise, but was rather boring to read and also drug on.
The best part of the issue was "The Glory of Keys" by Patrick Crerand, which chronicled the life of a car through it's various owners and stages of life. Simple, but very effective and far-reaching in terms of intellectual pondering.
The special section of the issue focused on Norwegian writers, which is part of what drew me to this issue of McSweeney's particularly. I was disappointed for the most part, as I feel like the stories don't translate all that well into English, but still the work from Harstad, Jacobsen, and Oyehaug is worth checking out.
As with any similar compendium of stories, this issue was hit or miss. Some of the stories I really enjoyed; "Loophole" by Johan Harstad, "Alarm" by Roy Jacobsen, "Two By Two" by Gunnhild Oyehaug, and the "Letters" section at the beginning of the issue were the highlights for me. "His Sister, Her Monologue" by Hilton Als was intriguing at the outset, thoughts from the perspective of comedian Richard Pryor's sister on sex, race, fame, entertainment and family, but the piece was far too long for my taste, and many of the sections dragged on. Steven Milhauser's "Phantoms" also has an interesting premise, but was rather boring to read and also drug on.
The best part of the issue was "The Glory of Keys" by Patrick Crerand, which chronicled the life of a car through it's various owners and stages of life. Simple, but very effective and far-reaching in terms of intellectual pondering.
The special section of the issue focused on Norwegian writers, which is part of what drew me to this issue of McSweeney's particularly. I was disappointed for the most part, as I feel like the stories don't translate all that well into English, but still the work from Harstad, Jacobsen, and Oyehaug is worth checking out.
November 23, 2010
I am big fan of McSweeney's Quarterly, it always fun to get introduced to new writers or seeingold favorites doing new stuff. And, I am a huge fan of short fiction. What I took from this version of the quarterly is that I was not that impressed by the pieces by great writers like Steven Millhauser and Roddy Doyle (and one by Hilton Als that I either simply didn't get or it was just so weird no one would get it), but really loved the whole second half of the book which was a collection of pieces by Norwegian writers. Yes, Norwegian writers. The pieces were very entertaining, interesting, and Norwegian. And, I did not figure out that there was a surprise in the cover until I'd literally finished the book. I won't spoil it for you. If you've never picked up a McSweeney's, go treat yourself...
September 5, 2010
This issue of McSweeney's made me so happy, and not just because it's my first as a subscriber! I really loved Millhauser's story, "Phantoms"! It was a really fun spin on case studies like the ones I had to read in college. Millhauser's pretty versatile, apparently, seeming as that story felt nothing like Martin Dressler.
There were a couple of the Norwegian stories that really stood out as well; "On An Old Farmstead in Europe" and "Out in the Open" were my two favorites content wise. "Like A Tiger in A Cage" was seriously heartfelt, and if Petterson writes characters that well in his novels, I'll be all over that!
There were a couple of the Norwegian stories that really stood out as well; "On An Old Farmstead in Europe" and "Out in the Open" were my two favorites content wise. "Like A Tiger in A Cage" was seriously heartfelt, and if Petterson writes characters that well in his novels, I'll be all over that!
December 23, 2010
The good: an excellent story by Steven Millhauser, a very good one by Roddy Doyle, and a terrific art project where a dad did fantastic illustrations when labeling his children's paper lunch sacks (and he did it for years -- and they're so cool). None of the Norwegian stories really set my heart aflutter, though (I liked the Icelandic stories from Issue 15 better).
August 26, 2010
Meh.
I was excited that this issue had poetry in it. I kind of wish I had never read the poetry now because it was much better when it existed only as anticipation in my mind. Maybe I am just not down with the youngster poets of Norway.
I was excited that this issue had poetry in it. I kind of wish I had never read the poetry now because it was much better when it existed only as anticipation in my mind. Maybe I am just not down with the youngster poets of Norway.
October 10, 2010
It's always hard to rate a collection like this. Some stories, like "Phantoms" were incredible, others were just okay, one story I couldn't even finish. I'd say it all averages out to about 3 stars.
July 16, 2011
I didn't realize the cover changes color for like a long time, so there's that. Really enjoyed Phantoms and The Glory of Keys. Oh, and there's poems from Norway (represent, via adoption) about Nintendo.
September 18, 2010
This was very uneven, with some enjoyable stories -- especially the selection of Norwegian writers in translation -- and some real wastes of time, most notably the story about Richard Pryor's sister.
August 26, 2011
The first McSweeney's to ever show up on my doorstep. I read through it pretty fast, and don't really remember half of what I read. Maybe more review to come once I go back and look at what was in it???
August 29, 2010
Another great collection of fiction from McSweeney's - a new novella, a sample of fiction from Norway - all with a heat-sensitive cover that changes images with the temperature.
August 27, 2010
Most of the stories were worthwhile, but the piece by Hilton Als and the Norwegian stories (particularly "Two by Two") were excellent.
January 7, 2011
Nice to see the letters section make a reappearance!
October 14, 2010
new subsriber, though i've been reading different Dave Eggers things here and there. enjoyed it immensely!
October 14, 2010
IT IS THE BEST
July 13, 2011
Fine selection of short stories. Really liked the norwegian part filled with snow and internal personal conflicts, search for innerself in the nature
September 6, 2012
I really enjoyed "Phantoms" by Steven Millhauser. The Doyle story was pretty good too. The rest was hit or miss.
October 19, 2013
My favourite entry: The Glory of Keys, a 9-page story that traces the rise and fall of a Pontiac Sunfire who goes to high school.
June 14, 2015
A few really good stories and one so bad I couldn't finish it!
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews