Synopses & Reviews
Barthelme said that "The Novel of the Soil is dead, as are Expressionism, Impressionism, Futurism, Imagism, Vorticism, Regionalism, Realism, the Kitchen Sink School of Drama, the Theatre of the Absurd, the Theatre of Cruelty, Black Humor, and Gongorism." But he left out, pointedly, the Biji, the Nivola, the Graustarkian Romance, the Consuetudinary, the Whore's Dialogue, the Fornaldarsaga, and the eighties, which are not dead; they are all in McSweeney's 31, as rendered by Douglas Coupland, Joy Williams, John Brandon, Shelley Jackson, Mary Miller, and Will Sheff, along with other fugitive genres recaptured by our finest writers, as part of a project to bring them back alive (except for the eighties, there is actually nothing about the eighties). In an oversized format, with annotations, illustrations, and pantoums, Issue 31 aims to introduce you to all the genres you never knew you loved.
Synopsis
McSweeney's began in 1998 as a literary journal that published only works rejected by other magazines. Since then, McSweeney's has attracted works from some of the finest writers in the country. "McSweeney's Issue 31" includes a nivola from Joy Williams, a biji from Douglas Coupland, and a Graustarkian romance from John Brandon. Even readers who've been crossing their fingers for a consuetudinary might just be in luck. It may also contain bits of rare writing quills or be made entirely of sand from distant deserts.