Reviews

McSweeney's #25 by McSweeney's Publishing, Dave Eggers

jacksontibet's review against another edition

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3.0

There was a few good stories in it, some fluff and filler too.

pearloz's review against another edition

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4.0

Fairly strong collection this time around (so much better than M's 27 which was very weak. The Tower by Steven Millhauser, Love, the Frontier by Emily Anderson, and The Naming of the Islands by David Hollander were particularly strong stories. Hollander's story would actually be well suited for an episode of Tales from the Crypt.

Also of note: the artwork that served as title pages for each story was done by an excellent artist named Amy Jean Porter (http://www.amyjeanporter.com/). The title pages were taken from a series of paintings entitled "Tiny Horses Say What" (you can see the word 'what' trail out of each horse's mouth). She has other series of paintings that are similarly off-kilter, though somewhat self-conscious, such as "Birds of North America Misquote Hip-Hop and Sometimes Pause for Reflection." She will have a show here in San Antonio sometime soon which I look forward to attending...

clarkness's review against another edition

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3.0

Steven Millhauser's "The Tower" was the stand out for me in this issue. I enjoy the detached style he brings to his work. His ability to turn the fantastic into the everyday speaks to our times. We've become so inured to the wild, impossible things in our lives that we forget just how phenomenal and thrilling it is to live in this time. Likewise, the people in this story have built a tower that has penetrated the floor of heaven, but it becomes a mere reality of their lives and not a very exciting one at that. When the unknowable becomes known, it loses its allure. We forget that it was ever sought.

Other than that, I thought "Love, The Frontier", "The Ape Man", and "No Empress Eyes" were high points. I found "Peacekeepers, 1995" to be almost unreadable. Ditto for "Magda Maria".

apermal2's review

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I liked this one. The pictures of horses were nice. Also, Yuri was entertaining. The Joyce Carol Oates story was good and I liked that it was dedicated to Leonard Cohen. Love, The Frontier rubbed me the wrong way and I didn't finish it. The last story was pretty good too, but it was mostly cute. The naming of the islands story was interesting as well. The story about Peacekeepers was a bit uneven and possibly too long, as was the Tower. The Tower was funny and interesting, but just too long. The production values are great as always.
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