C O M I N G S O O N F R O M
M c S W E E N E Y ' S A N D
M c S W E E N E Y ' S B O O K S .
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When January comes, so will some new things we will make and send out. We
will have a new issue of our quarterly, and we will start a series of
book-publishing endeavors that might work and might not. We are hoping they
will work.
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JANUARY
McSWEENEY'S ISSUE #6
Featuring the music of They Might Be Giants
In January, we will have ready, we hope, our new issue. This new issue will
be like a regular nice issue of McSweeney's, except the good thing here will
be that there will be a soundtrack disc included in the package. This music
will correspond to each and every story or drawing in the issue. One piece
of music for each piece of writing or artwork. This music will be made by a
band called They Might Be Giants, though they will likely also ask other
musicmakers, such as M. Doughty and Philip Glass, to compose songs for this
soundtrack. It will be fun; you will see.
LEMON
by Lawrence Krauser
January 2001
Regular readers of this site will already be familiar with our plans to publish this
novel. We recently conducted an
extensive interview with
the author. Elsewhere,
Mr. Krauser reports on his efforts to hand-illustrate
all 10,000 covers of his book. If you are a member of the press and would like to receive the press kit
that accompanies this novel, please email presskits@mcsweeneys.net.
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FEBRUARY
In February, we will proudly publish a new piece of fiction by Jonathan Lethem, a
regular contributor to our journal. This is the first book to come from Mr.
Lethem since he was fortunate enough to win what is called the National Book
Critics Circle Award for his last novel, Motherless Brooklyn. This book will
be called This Shape We're In. More about it:
THIS SHAPE WE'RE IN
by Jonathan Lethem
February 2001
This book could be some kind of allegory book, but it might not be an allegory
book at all. It involves people and drinking and people
looking for a giant eye. It is among the best things Mr. Lethem has written.
This book will be a hardcover book, and will be priced at $9. It will be
priced at $9 because Mr. Lethem asked McSweeney's how low a book of this
(rather slim) size could be priced without everyone losing money. "Could we
get it under $10?" he asked. We did some math and guessed that $9 would be
possible. So it will be priced at $9 and will be available in bookstores.
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MARCH
Many many months ago, we asked for proposals from anyone who would be
willing to write for us a book about electrical engineering on boats. We
received many interesting applications, but the winner was Ms. Amy
Fusselman, who we had not met but had written a short piece we published in
our fourth issue. This book:
THE PHARMACIST'S MATE
by Amy Fusselman
March 2001
This book is only sort of about electrical engineering on boats. In fact, it
does not really involve engineering at all, though it does involve boats.
This is Ms. Fusselman's first book, and while it involves the Navy and WWII,
it is at its core a truly gorgeous book about family and procreation, and
that's about all we will say for now. It also involves music and death.
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APRIL OR THEREABOUTS
In April we will publish a book by Dave Eggers, who has often been
associated with this site and journal. This will be a new book of full
length, and we hope it will be good and that you will like it. It will be
classified, by most, as fiction. Its plot will not be revealed, but it will
involve a good deal of water. So:
[UNTITLED NOVEL INVOLVING WATER]
by Dave Eggers
April 2001
More information might be forthcoming, later.
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MAY
This month, we will be very proud to present the first book by Mr. Donnell
Alexander, who some may know from his work in many magazines and
anthologies. His book:
GHETTO CELEBRITY
by Donnell Alexander
May 2001
This is a novel-cum-memoir which begins in black, small-town Ohio of the 1960s,
and follows the relationship between a son and his slippery and shadowy father,
a man whose reputation was powerful enough to shape his son in absentia, hence
the book's title. Mr. Alexander's prose is electric and lyrical, and this promises
to be a startling debut.
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JUNE
In this balmy summer month, we will offer, at long last, a collection of
work by Ben Greenman, one of your very favorite people. It will probably be
called:
BEN GREENMAN'S WORK, COLLECTED
by Ben Greenman
June 2001
This will probably not, actually, be the book's title. But if you have been
following Mr. Greenman's work, on our website, in our journal, in The New Yorker
and elsewhere, you know that he does good things and does them carefully. This book
will include some previously published pieces, and many previously unpublished
pieces. Everyone will love this book, especially in early summer, if they
are reading it where there is wind.
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CAN I PRE-ORDER ONE, TWO, OR EVEN ALL OF THESE BOOKS?
Yes. To pre-order any of the books listed above (but not McSweeney's Issue #6,
for which a separate ordering form will be available soon), please fill out and submit this secure form. We do not yet know
the exact prices of the books (with the exception of Mr. Lethem's), but rest
assured that the prices will be fair and reasonable. We will never charge your
credit card for a given book until we ship the book to you.
If you are an independent bookseller and are interested in carrying any of these books, please email bookstores@mcsweeneys.net.
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Have a good time today doing your things.
OTHER McSWEENEY'S STORIES:
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Ann Landers' Parallel Universe By Jim Stallard
Fragments From The Death of the Musical! The Musical By Ben Greenman
Discarded Art-Book Proposals, Reconsidered (First in a Series) By Sean Carman
Excerpts From The Legendary Correspondence Between John Hodgman, Former Professional Literary Agent, and Lawrence Krauser, New-Book-Writer, Whose Novel, Lemon, is Soon to be Published By McSweeney's Books, a Publishing Concern in Brooklyn, New York
The Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous and The Twelve Steps of Creating a Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade Balloon (as Listed on the MacyParade.com Web Site), Head to Head By Kevin Shay
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