Customer Reviews

McSweeney's Issue 28 (Mcsweeney's Quarterly Concern)

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2 star:		(1)
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McSweeney's 28 is made up of 8 small hardbacks contained within a cardboard container. The two sets of 8 books make up two fantastic painted covers, one of which is the one you see as the main cover, of a boy with his ear to the ground while a fire or a tree radiates from him.

The books are very short, about 14 pages each with lots of illustrations, so this is probably the quickest issue of McSweeney's you'll read. That said, some of the stories here are quite brilliant.

Brian Evenson's "The Book and the Girl" is about a girl surviving a terrible event with her trusty book, proving that books are far more practical than previously thought.

Ryan Boudinot's "The Guy Who Kept Meeting Himself" is my favourite of the 8 stories, about a man who at various stages in his life meets a version of himself a few years older who then tells him something about his future that helps (or doesn't) in the present. Fantastically imaginative, great ending, brilliant illustrations.

Daniel Alarcon's "The Thousands" is the story that feels more like a fable than any other here, about a group of people who arrive in a land where the government tries to get rid of them. They construct rudimentary lodgings and stay.

Sheila Heti's "Two Free Men" is about two lost souls finding themselves and peace through acceptance.

Sarah Manguso's "The Box" is about a man who becomes an exalted leader through not telling anyone what's in his box. It's the funniest story here with a great message.

Arthur Bradford's "Virgil Walker" is the battiest of the bunch, about an abandoned octopus who breaks out of a pet shop with a turtle and starts a life of his own after escaping prison.

The stories are all wonderful and great to read but it's over all too quickly. That said, the presentation is enough to buy the issue. The hardbacks are well produced and everything is so well put together that it becomes an object of beauty as well as a collection of excellent short stories. McSweeney's 28 is one of my favourite issues of McSweeney's and is recommended to all book lovers.

McSweeney's 28, like issues 13 and 19 and to some extent 17 and 22, is one of their anomalous issues, one seemingly more focused on presentation than content. It's important to realize what you're getting into here: There's not a whole lot of writing; the whole issue can be read in about 20 minutes, but that's not really the point. The issue consists of eight tiny books held in a frame, which can be puzzled together in groups of four to form two nice artpieces. The eight tiny books each feature an illustrated fable by a different author. The fables are all good.

Merely "reading" this issue is a fun hands-on experience, both very innovative and hell, actually pretty delightful. It might have been nicer with 12 or 16 fables, but these fables are rereadable and the whole thing is a treat--to anyone with a sense of discovery and a regard for imaginative design and a love of great fiction, this will be like a literary toy.

I have been collecting them since issue 8 and I love that they are all so different. This one reminds me of the adventure story issue, because that one was paperback and someone complained that this issue was too short. It may be short (eight illustrated fables in individual books), but it's potent and thought provoking. As always fabulous artwork too.

I'm a relative newcomer to McSweeneys, having started reading about McSweeneys 25 or so. As far as literature periodicals go, it's one of the most consistent and the best in terms of writing craft and interesting stories. This latest one, like so many others, is full of interesting stories in an attractive, unique box with puzzle-matching individual books for each story.

The issue is dedicated to fables, and they're all really good. They range from surreal to quite classical. The thing is, though, the eight stories in this collection are all really short, and even with taking the time to read the foreward inside the cover of the case and look at the different illustrations (most of which are fantastic), this edition doesn't take very long to get through. I don't want to stress quantity all that much, because frankly McSweeneys is an enjoyable experience for anyone who reads, but this volume is a little expensive for about an hours worth of reading.

Nevertheless, one of the neat things about McSweeneys' various ways of printing multiple books and the like is the ability to split up the stories and send them on different paths. One of my favorite things to do with the periodicals is pass them off to friends, though not always in their complete forms. With eight different fables all independently bound, the quantity can be made up by sending different stories to eight different friends, and letting them all pass them on independently as well. It's a fun way of seeing which people end up with what story and introduces a lot of people to some decent writing, so that they can get interested too. No better way to get things read than passing it on, right?

--PolarisDiB

After being such a huge fan of #27, this issue was a big disappointment. Maybe if I liked Children's Lit more, I would have enjoyed this, but the "fable" genre just strikes me as almost stupid. The covers were great.