McSweeney's Issue 30 (McSweeney's Quarterly Concern) [Paperback]

Dave Eggers (Editor)

Book Description

Series: McSweeney's Quarterly Concern

Featuring new work by Wells Tower, Michael Cera, and Etgar Keret, along with as always a bevy of lesser-known but nonetheless excellent writers investigating everything from mental hospitals to sentient mists, and possibly some kind of poster, Issue 30 warrants every ounce of attention and industry you'll give it, even if you are very important and your time is valuable--even if the fate of nations rests on your weary shoulders. You should still read Issue 30.

Product Details

• Paperback: 200 pages
• Publisher: McSweeney's (March 3, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1934781223
• ISBN-13: 978-1934781227
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.9 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #904,310 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 An Ugly Book of Solid Shorts, March 12, 2009

By 

SORE EYES - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: McSweeney's Issue 30 (McSweeney's Quarterly Concern) (Paperback)

The trend of late with McSweeney's is that the better the edition looks, the less content inside. Edition 30 isn't pretty and not one of the more "collectable" editions from an artistic perspective, but it's meaty and full of good stories that are solid and less sarcastic and flippant in tone than many of the McSweeney's collections. The characters are still very unusual, but the writing is less self-aware and showy. If you like McSweeney's sarcastic, some of that is still there in stories like "The Beginning of a Plan". But that sort of thing pales in comparison to the solid writing and character development in the excellent "Pine Cone" , "A Further Interpretation of Real Life Events" and "Retreat".


Stories included are:
Bill Cotter- Pfaff II
Nick Ekkixogloy- Stowaways
Kevin Moffett- Further Interpretation of Real Life Events
Etgar Keret-Bad Karma
Shelly Oria- The Beginning of a Plan
Michael Cera- Pinecone
Carson Mell-Diamond Aces
Matei Visniec-Madness
J. Malcolm Garcia-Cuts
Catherine Bussinger- Foothill Boulevard
Wells Tower-Retreat

An edition worth buying if you're looking for a few hours of solid reading.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Further Interpretation, May 10, 2009

By 

Matt M. Martin "No, One" (Fort Collins, CO) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: McSweeney's Issue 30 (McSweeney's Quarterly Concern) (Paperback)

The art: This issue is pretty basic, which is on purpose, as it's a throwback issue meant to look like the first McSweeney's. This may be artistic choice or editorial laziness but who cares anyway, because the McS.' art has lately been superb and the stories in this one are over 80% solid.

The writing: Issue 30 has the just absolutely-wow-wonderful "Retreat" by Wells Tower, which unfortunately causes all other stories to pale in comparison, but Kevin Moffett's and Shelly Oria's stories are also standouts, the first a fun and clever metafictional account about an author who's outdone in literary journals by his nonwriter father, the second a sharp idea about stopping and starting time--an idea that's written with the pedantic accuracy of science fiction. It's not just an idea, though, but a strong story around an idea, and has some terrific lines. "Pinecone" by Michael Cera is a lot of fun, an effortlessly readable story even more enjoyable for not being at all "literary." There are only two duds, those by Nick Ekkizogloy and Catherine Bussinger, the first a dull nonstarter, the second an out-of-place exercise in obnoxious sass and clownish characters that's less and less funny the more it strains to be. The other five stories are all solid, potent and effective--an overall strong collection, and another winner.

4.0 out of 5 stars Read, Rejoice, Repeat, September 30, 2011

By 

D. Thomas - See all my reviews

This review is from: McSweeney's Issue 30 (McSweeney's Quarterly Concern) (Paperback)

McSweeney's Issue 30 is solid - good stories, simple throwback design and nice gesture toward Oddi Printing, the Icelandic company that originally took care of McSweeney's printing needs.

The design is interesting - unique and uncomplicated, representative of the time that it was published (Obama taking over for Bush). If the design is light, the font is a bit chunkier, but small, thin drawings scattered throughout each story break up the text well.

Overall, a great collection of stories, many of which contain memorable characters who are realistic, dimensional and relatable. This issue contains Michael Cera's first published story ("Pinecone") and although it's a quick read and interesting with spots of genuine humor, it largely comes off as an inferior extension of Cera's acting. In some areas, descriptions and dialogue seem trite; it's difficult to see the main character at the age and mental stage he's supposed to inhabit, and for the most part, the story carries no dynamic motion that propels anything forward. It's as though this story could (and would) happen on a weekly basis in the life of the main character, Carroll Silver. The character's ranting, perhaps intended to be a mix of clever and cynical, comes off stilted and childish. Fans of Cera will see traces of his movie characters, however, and this seems to be the story's redeeming feature and, I suspect, the reason it was published at all.

The rest of the stories are excellent, including Wells Tower's "Retreat," a story originally published in McSweeney's 23 and now told from the perspective of a different character. I haven't read the original, but am very interested after reading its updated counterpart.

Stories I enjoyed the most include Matei Visniec's "Madness," Shelly Oria's "The Beginning of a Plan" and Carson Mell's "Diamond Aces," all of which have quirky plotlines and characters that shine - you'll wish these were longer stories (the definition of a good short story?). The remaining stories are also enjoyable, and overall, the theme of the issue - rejoice - casts a mellowing irony across the collection as a whole.