Art of McSweeney's [Hardcover]

McSweeney's (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 23, 2010

A novel with each cover hand-illustrated by the author. Literary journals bound by magnets, or designed to look like junk mail. The sharp wit, gorgeous design, and playful why not invention of independent literary publisher McSweeney's have earned it a large and loyal following and made its journals, books, The Believer magazine, and Wholphin DVDs collectible favorites of readers and graphic designers alike. Created by the McSweeney's staff to commemorate their 11th (or 12th) anniversary, this book showcases their award-winning art and design across all the company's activities. It features hundreds of images, interviews with collaborators such as Chris Ware and Michael Chabon, and dozens of insights into McSweeney's quirky creative process and the visual experience of reading.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

McSweeney's began in 1998 as a San Francisco-based literary journal edited by Dave Eggers, and has since grown into a celebrated independent publishing company. Its publications have won awards from AIGA and Print and have appeared in exhibits at the Smithsonian and the Pasadena Museum.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 264 pages
• Publisher: Chronicle Books; First Edition edition (June 23, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0811866238
• ISBN-13: 978-0811866231
• Product Dimensions: 11.1 x 9.4 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #276,888 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great book about bookmaking, July 22, 2010

By 

Marteinn - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Art of McSweeney's (Hardcover)

I really love this account of the making of the first 30 issues of the McSweeney's Quarterly. Not quite unbiased as Oddi Printing who'm I work for have printed a large number of their issues. But still it's a great insight into the way Dave Eggers and the people at McSweeney's do things both as far as content goes but not less interesting the actual making of the books - design and production. How they have tried all sorts of crazy and unconventional things and the result is a showcase of modern bookmaking and this book is a must read for book designers and publisher.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Thinking outside the box., February 15, 2011

By 

John Matlock "Gunny" (Winnemucca, NV) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Art of McSweeney's (Hardcover)

McSweeney's was started as a literary journal in 1998 as a quarterly journal to publish new fiction, stories and articles that attract the interest of the publisher/editor. This has been combined with an open, carefree design that seems to know no boundaries beyond the limit of what can be printed on a piece of paper. As a result they have developed an eclectic style that is clearly all their own. To be more specific, each of their issues, published more or less quarterly, is made to look, feel, and be very different from the last. 'Normal' magazines, say Time Magazine has a standardized look, red border, the word Time at the top, etc. Issue number 18 for instance bares no relationship to issue 17 which was put together as a packet of mail, while 18 is a bound book.

This book, in turn, is a rather random description about how each of the issues came about from a design point of view. Each issue is its own story, told by the people that came up with the idea and put it together.

You talk about thinking outside the box....