Customer Reviews

McSweeney's Issue 19 (McSweeney's Quarterly Concern)

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The reproductions of wartime pamphlets and the box they come in is worth the price alone. The mag itself wasn't nearly as interesting as the reproductions of:

- George W. Bush's dental records from 1973

- an RNC 1967 pamphlet called "How Your Horoscope Can Help the Republican Party Win!"

- the DOD's 1961 pamphlet "Fallout Protection: What to know and do about nuclear attack."

- the DOD's 1957 "Guide to the Middle East" which ironically contains the lines: "Traditionally, Americans believe in the right of all peoples to determine their own future. Our policy is to support the rights of Middle Eastern peoples without interfering in their internal affairs. We hope to promote peace among the middle Eastern states."

- a 1939 English pamphlet called "Some things you should know in case war should come" that gives information such as "water can only be applied to the bomb itself in the form of a fine spray, for hich a handpump with a length of hose and special nozzle are needed. If you throw a bucket of water on a burning incendiary bomb it will explode and throw burning fragments in all directions."

- a 1918 YMCA pamphlet called "The Stuff That Wins" which urges young soldiers to "not dissipate their energy with gambling, women, or drink."

- correspondence between a man who was arrested for fornication with a black woman out of wedlock and his family in 1911

And a BUNCH of other incredible stuff.

Well, this is a worthwhile purchase, but not for the skippable and unreadable topical political ephemera it comes bathed in. This issue is housed in a cigar box, and features old political artstuffs worth only about a cursory "Huh!" The real treasure here is, as usual, the stories, which are especially strong in this volume.

They're all historical fiction, and despite most connotations with those words, they're all very, very good. Christopher Howard writes a taxing but beautifully written and well-imagined story about an indentured servant and a curmudgeon floating down the Mississippi causing trouble in the early 19th Century. Adam Golaski does three flash fiction responses to Degas paintings, which are welcome little kicks. Brendan Connell writes a terrific pseudo-biography of a horrendously violent man and his various ruthlessnesses that infers its own sense of morality without browbeating the reader. Sean Casey has an uproarious story about an autobiographer detailing his own bizarre conception, and T.C. Boyle writes a rich, compelling novella about an orphan left for dead in rural France. It (Issue 19) captures well the McSweeney's Ideal: Well-conceived, well-executed stories that are as imaginative as they are powerfully written--denotatively enjoyable stories with sly and surprising heart.

This is the wonderfully designed cigar box issue where a 144 page paperback and several reproduced old pamphlets, booklets, letters, and photographs from the late 19th and early 20th century armies of the west are inside a large paperback sized cigar box.

The paraphernalia cover pension booklets from the 19th century, a civil defence booklet from 1939, letters between two brothers, one of whom was arrested for sleeping with a black woman, dating from 1918, George W Bush's dental records, photographs of hundreds of kids sleeping in hammocks in the woods, a 2002 memo from the CIA to Donald Rumsfeld - well you get it, it's a mish mash of military-related stuff. Well designed and presented, it fits in well with the military motif of the cigar box.

The real treasure as always with McSweeney's is the fiction. Christopher Howard provides a melancholy story of an orphaned black boy making his way in 19th century America where he meets a mercenary Indian and a wolf in "Prince of the World". Brendan Connell writes about a bloodthirsty British hunter in "The Life of Captain Gareth Caernarvon" while Adam Golaski writes mini stories about 3 Degas paintings reproduced on the inside covers which are all excellent.

TC Boyle edited this issue and supplies the best contribution of the lot - a novella called "Wild Child". It tells the story of a feral orphan boy in 18th century France and his life from bare beginnings to becoming the focus of national curiosity. It's a brilliantly written and imagined story from a master short story writer and is worth buying the issue for alone.

McSweeney's 19 is full of great stories and is an imaginatively designed issue - this is McSweeney's at it's best.