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McSweeney’s Quarterly Concern #40
McSweeney's Issue 40
Our first issue of 2012 features all kinds of amazing stuff so much, from so many good people, that we turned it into two beautiful little books. There are new stories from Neil Gaiman and Etgar Keret and David Vann (can you guess which one contains pterodactyls and Aztecs?), there is Saïd Sayrafiezadeh awaiting the uprising at Occupy Wall Street and a special compendium of the incredible writing that inspired the Egyptian Revolution, and, in its own volume, there is Rick Bass's extraordinary account of a week in Rwanda‹the most ambitious nonfiction piece McSweeney¹s has ever run, and without a doubt one of the best essays of the year.
385 pages, Paperback; Hardcover
First published December 13, 2011
About the author
Dave Eggers
343 books9,588 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 - 23 of 23 reviews
May 17, 2012
I am reading McSweeney's Issue 40 in Chicago on the eve of the NATO summit/protests and I have had a powerful emotional reaction to this issue.
McSweeney's 40 begins with reporting from Occupy Wall Street and ends with influential blog entries, songs and transcripts from You-tube videos, translated from arabic, created during the Egyptian Revolution. This issue supplies thoughtful critisism of Occupy Wall Street, gives voice to protesters overseas, supplies information on non-violent protesting and has the usuall great fiction mixed in for good measure.
I haven't yet read the book length report on Rwanda, but feel that it will serve as a powerful touchpoint that unchecked power is cruel and dangerous.
Issue 40 weighed especially heavily on my mind today, as I walked home on streets with a police officer on every corner and to the throbbing of military helicopters shuttling up and down the lakefront.
I am not one to critique the "system" or even to physically join a protest, but this issue combined with the changes I've seen in my home city really has me thinking. Who are these police and military officials here to protect? Is it me?
McSweeney's 40 begins with reporting from Occupy Wall Street and ends with influential blog entries, songs and transcripts from You-tube videos, translated from arabic, created during the Egyptian Revolution. This issue supplies thoughtful critisism of Occupy Wall Street, gives voice to protesters overseas, supplies information on non-violent protesting and has the usuall great fiction mixed in for good measure.
I haven't yet read the book length report on Rwanda, but feel that it will serve as a powerful touchpoint that unchecked power is cruel and dangerous.
Issue 40 weighed especially heavily on my mind today, as I walked home on streets with a police officer on every corner and to the throbbing of military helicopters shuttling up and down the lakefront.
I am not one to critique the "system" or even to physically join a protest, but this issue combined with the changes I've seen in my home city really has me thinking. Who are these police and military officials here to protect? Is it me?
July 12, 2012
this was a fairly middle-tier outting from mcsweeney's. the extended essay from rick bass, pretty close to half the volume of the piece, was interesting but troubling for a variety of reasons, some in its favor and some not. the fiction was acceptable though not memorable, as was the graphic insert. the most important aspects of this, the 40th volume of mcsweeneys quarterly, would have to be the collection of writings from and about the egyptian uprisings of 2011. this material is valuable and important.
April 24, 2026
I've only read McSweeney's here and there. When I was in university I thought I would be so cool, smart, and literary if I started reading this journal and I bought a bunch of random issues on eBay. Apparently I'm missing the second part of this issue ("Rick Bass's extraordinary account of a week in Rwanda - the most ambitious nonfiction piece McSweeney's has ever run"). Although the quality of writing ranges from okay to excellent, there wasn't anything memorable here. The three best pieces were the short stories "Scientific American" by Adam Levin, "A Good One" by Edgar Keret, and "Adventure Story" by Neil Gaiman. Actually, the Letters at the beginning were by far my favourite part. The non-fiction was nothing special. The last piece, a collection of writings from Egypt during the Arab Spring, was especially dry. The weird comic, "Well Come Home" by Jason Jägel was a waste of space. Tries too hard to be surreal and edgy, with an art style and text that was way too simplistic for my liking. There were a lot of misses in this volume.
May 4, 2020
McSweeney's delivers yet another great collection of short stories and a moving collection of writings that inspired and came out of the Egyptian Revolution. Then they went and screwed it all up by throwing in a second book, an account of a trip to Rwanda by Rick Bass. Numerous times in the book, he says something like, "I know this might sound bad coming from a white guy from America", and he says something that sounds awful coming from a white guy from America, over and over again.
The first book of stories and essays are a worthwhile read, but you can skip the Rick Bass book altogether.
The first book of stories and essays are a worthwhile read, but you can skip the Rick Bass book altogether.
June 19, 2012
I love McSweeney's and I've been really excited for the 40th issue to come out assuming some amount of fanfare. Oddly enough no fanfare but a solid issue. This issue includes 2 books, the primary book seen in the picture about and another hardcover called In My Home There Is No More Sorrow, Ten Days In Rwanda by Rick Bass. The primary book has a bunch of awesome pieces by some of my favorite authors and a collection of writing about the Egyptian Revolution from last year. The issue started off with a great letter section and included the following;
Notes From A Bystander by Said Syrafiezadeh
This is a bit of non fiction about a son of a protester and his experiences at Occupy Wall Street. Cool little piece.
All Together Here by David Vann
Cool little story about a dysfunctional family. The family includes a grandmother, her two loser daughters and their 2 teenagers. The story is told from the point of view of the teenage boy who has a crush on his female cousin. A great little story that got a lot accomplished in a short number of pages.
The Sisters by Kevin Moffett
Moffett is consistently one of the top McSweeney's contributors. This story is about two lonely sisters who have lived their whole lives living alone with only single transient man coming in and out of their lives at a time. Creepy at times, touching at others, extremely well written and another winner.
A Good One by Etgar Keret
Keret is a master at his craft. This one was included in his recent book and is typical magic from the first word. I can't say enough good things about him.
Topsy Turvy by Jason Jagel
This was a comic insert that bothered me because it made the book a little awkward to hold and it made me feel like an idiot as I don't get it.
Adventure Story by Neil Gaiman
I think this is non fiction, either way it's great. It's a short little accounting of a story between Neil and his mother about an interesting stone figure he found that belonged to his dad.
Big Windows by Nathan C. Martin
Only 3 pages and one of the saddest stories I've read. Just crushingly sad but also filled with it's own hope.
Scientific American by Adam Levin
I liked this story. It's about a couple who moves into a new home that has a wall that has a nocturnally reoccurring crack in a wall that fills with gel. That's just the starting point, kind of philosophical and fantastic.
Egyptian Revolution section
This section was a nice collection of writing. My favorites were translated copies of handouts that were given to the demonstrators about things like how to dress & use a trash can as a shield.
In My Home There Is No More Sorrow by Rick Bass
I'm torn about this one. Ok I lied I'm not torn at all I just don't want to sound like an asshole especially because of the cool stuff I learned about the genocide & the silver back gorillas. I just don't like the author, he was insufferable. The book is chocked full of white, not poor guilt (the author goes to great length to explain he is both white and not rich). I would have liked the book if he wasn't such an insufferable idiot. At one point he meets a local professor at a writers workshop he and his wife are putting on. After meeting the profession for literally 5 minutes this is what he writes;
"He seems to me like a man who is aware of two seemingly paradoxical facts, that we are all extraordinarily tiny in the world, specks or motes so insignificant as to essentially be as invisible we are momentary - and second, that despite this insignificance, this diminution, we are, and he is, nonetheless immersed squarely in the matrix of history and keenly aware of its movements."
That's a ridiculous thing to say and a perfect illustration why I hate him as a person. For Christ sake it's OK to love Berkenstocks and thinking that you're saving the planet by recycling more than your beer bottles without all that preposterous crap! I still won't like you but I'll respect you for being true to who you are.
Ultimately it's a shame because I love the content of the book just not the writer and his self serving bs ramblings. The true joy to the book was in the last 30 pages that are writings from the workshop the author put on in Rwanda. The poems included are absolutely amazing and individually out shines almost everything in the entire issue.
Notes From A Bystander by Said Syrafiezadeh
This is a bit of non fiction about a son of a protester and his experiences at Occupy Wall Street. Cool little piece.
All Together Here by David Vann
Cool little story about a dysfunctional family. The family includes a grandmother, her two loser daughters and their 2 teenagers. The story is told from the point of view of the teenage boy who has a crush on his female cousin. A great little story that got a lot accomplished in a short number of pages.
The Sisters by Kevin Moffett
Moffett is consistently one of the top McSweeney's contributors. This story is about two lonely sisters who have lived their whole lives living alone with only single transient man coming in and out of their lives at a time. Creepy at times, touching at others, extremely well written and another winner.
A Good One by Etgar Keret
Keret is a master at his craft. This one was included in his recent book and is typical magic from the first word. I can't say enough good things about him.
Topsy Turvy by Jason Jagel
This was a comic insert that bothered me because it made the book a little awkward to hold and it made me feel like an idiot as I don't get it.
Adventure Story by Neil Gaiman
I think this is non fiction, either way it's great. It's a short little accounting of a story between Neil and his mother about an interesting stone figure he found that belonged to his dad.
Big Windows by Nathan C. Martin
Only 3 pages and one of the saddest stories I've read. Just crushingly sad but also filled with it's own hope.
Scientific American by Adam Levin
I liked this story. It's about a couple who moves into a new home that has a wall that has a nocturnally reoccurring crack in a wall that fills with gel. That's just the starting point, kind of philosophical and fantastic.
Egyptian Revolution section
This section was a nice collection of writing. My favorites were translated copies of handouts that were given to the demonstrators about things like how to dress & use a trash can as a shield.
In My Home There Is No More Sorrow by Rick Bass
I'm torn about this one. Ok I lied I'm not torn at all I just don't want to sound like an asshole especially because of the cool stuff I learned about the genocide & the silver back gorillas. I just don't like the author, he was insufferable. The book is chocked full of white, not poor guilt (the author goes to great length to explain he is both white and not rich). I would have liked the book if he wasn't such an insufferable idiot. At one point he meets a local professor at a writers workshop he and his wife are putting on. After meeting the profession for literally 5 minutes this is what he writes;
"He seems to me like a man who is aware of two seemingly paradoxical facts, that we are all extraordinarily tiny in the world, specks or motes so insignificant as to essentially be as invisible we are momentary - and second, that despite this insignificance, this diminution, we are, and he is, nonetheless immersed squarely in the matrix of history and keenly aware of its movements."
That's a ridiculous thing to say and a perfect illustration why I hate him as a person. For Christ sake it's OK to love Berkenstocks and thinking that you're saving the planet by recycling more than your beer bottles without all that preposterous crap! I still won't like you but I'll respect you for being true to who you are.
Ultimately it's a shame because I love the content of the book just not the writer and his self serving bs ramblings. The true joy to the book was in the last 30 pages that are writings from the workshop the author put on in Rwanda. The poems included are absolutely amazing and individually out shines almost everything in the entire issue.
April 16, 2014
More a 2.5. I didn't really enjoy this issue. The non-fiction was interesting and provided an odd comparison between the uprising in Egypt and whatever the hell the doomed Occupy Protests achieved, mostly because there were essays about both.
The fiction mostly wasn't my cup of tea either. Can't say I really understood the first few stories, but the Neil Gaimen story was good, as was the Adam Levin one.
The fiction mostly wasn't my cup of tea either. Can't say I really understood the first few stories, but the Neil Gaimen story was good, as was the Adam Levin one.
September 5, 2016
Great collection of short stories. Slightly thrown off by the comic in the middle, but well worth the read.
July 7, 2013
This issue was heavily non fiction, starting with Said Sayrafiezadeh's reporting of Occupy Wall Sreet from Zuccotti Park and ending with A series of writings about the Arab Sprint movement within Egypt. I particularly liked Watching Egypt by Noor Elashi.)
From a fiction perspective, there were several solid stories, and I particularly liked Kevin Moffett's The Sisters.
From a fiction perspective, there were several solid stories, and I particularly liked Kevin Moffett's The Sisters.
March 18, 2016
McSweeney's Quarterly Concerns are a new find for me. I love them, and love this one. They are wonderfully curated, interesting, & diverse. They also make me believe that maybe, JUST MAYBE, print can survive through careful, loving, & intricate attention to design and detail. All copies I've read seem to insist and contain a passion for the written word -- in all its forms.
August 4, 2012
Great essays, stories, and letters in this issue of the quarterly. All of them.
This review does not take into account the separate hardcover on Rwanda by Rick Bass. Haven't read it yet. Decided after serious over thinking that it's a separate book.
This review does not take into account the separate hardcover on Rwanda by Rick Bass. Haven't read it yet. Decided after serious over thinking that it's a separate book.
December 29, 2013
Some of the stories in this one didn't do it for me (I did like the short Gaiman piece), but the segment of writings about the Egyptian revolution was compelling.
June 12, 2012
Not as engaging as the previous issue, and the extra book on Rwanda is pretty heavy. Merely alright.
February 6, 2016
Some great stuff in this one. I highly recommend the end section on the Egyptian Revolution of 2011.
June 7, 2014
Some brilliant pieces, others that were simply "experimental", made for an uneven but ultimately thought-provoking read.
July 1, 2012
The Neil Gaiman short story was absolutely amazing.
August 15, 2012
The journal is okay but the book that comes with the journal, In My Home There is No More Sorrow: Ten Days in Rwanda is a must read.
October 10, 2012
Standard solid collection. Always a fan of the short and profound stories such as "Adventure Story" and "Big Windows."
December 2, 2012
Lovely collection of short stories essays. Interesting collection of articles and blogs on the events leading upto and after 25th of January on Tahrir square.
October 12, 2015
Adam Levin's story "Scientific American" is worth the cover price, alone.
Read
February 4, 2013I enjoyed "The Sisters" by Kevin Moffet and will follow what he writes.
May 21, 2012
"Scientific American" might actually be the perfect short story.
September 1, 2012
Worth it for the Kevin Moffet story alone.
April 18, 2017
Picked this up only because I saw that there was a story written by Neil Gaiman in it. His story was obviously very good. I also enjoyed few other pieces of writing in this volume.
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews