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Now available for preorder:
The San Francisco Panorama.

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Issue No. 4 T I M O T H Y   M c S W E E N E Y ' S T R Y I N G ,   T R Y I N G ,   T R Y I N G , T R Y I N G ,   T R Y I N G . - - - - This issue contains 312 pages, which is more than previous issues, though in this case the pages are not all bound together. This issue actually starts with a box, within which are fourteen separate booklets, most of the stories having been granted their own binding and color covers. They look very good. If you would like to buy one through your local bookstore and they do not carry our title, please urge them to do so, and tell them that we are available through any number of fine distributors. Now, a rundown of the issue's contents: Rachel Cohen: "A Chance Meeting" [Poignant and illuminating discussion of a meeting that never happened -- between Willa Cather and Katherine Anne Porter. 16 pages] George Saunders: "Four Institutional Monologues" [A new story-cycle. 16 pages] Ben Miller: "Dar(e)apy" [Short story involving cooking oil and imminent fire. 16 pages] Lawrence Weschler: "Two Further Convergences" [Just as the title suggests. Includes two color foldouts. 8 pages] Sheila Heti: "The Middle Tales" [Five stories by this Toronto writer, who lives at home with her dad and brother. 16 pages] Haruki Murakami: "Dabchick" [Short story involving tunnels and passwords. 12 page] Rick Moody: "The Double Zero" [A cover version of Sherwood Anderson's "The Egg." 16 pages] Jonathan Lethem: "K Is for Fake" [A version of "The Trial." 16 pages] Paul Maliszewski: "Paperback Nabokov" [An investigative essay exploring that author's endless efforts, mostly in vain, to improve the covers of his books, in particular their paperback incarnations. With four color pages of rare paperback covers, and an appendix of related correspondence. 32 pages] Paul Collins: "Symmes Hole" [Another in Mr. Collins's series of profiles of history's notable (and failed) dreamers. This one recounts the life of a certain Mr. Symmes, who spent decades trying to convince the world that there was another, below our own, accessible via the North Pole. 16 pages] Lydia Davis: "A Mown Lawn" [A meditation on those three words. 8 pages, sort of] Denis Johnson: "Hellhound on My Trail" [A three-act play. Very hard to summarize. 80 pages] Issue also contains a booklet, of 48 pages, which contains new, short work from these people, among others: Sarah Vowell, Arthur Bradford, Sean Wilsey, J. Robert Lennon, Amy Fusselman, Nicholas Laughlin, Dan Pope, Gabe Hudson, Marcy Dermansky, the very fine John Warner and a very funny piece by a Mr. Jason Eaton. On the back cover is "More Notes on Revising Last Night's Dream," a perfect little thing by Ben Greenman. There are also many drawings of ears and severed hands. Thank you.

- - - - MAIN PAGE | ARCHIVES Memories of Amanda Davis Red dot denotes content that is new today. Black dot denotes newish content. McSWEENEY'S STORE SUBSCRIBE TO: McSWEENEY'S THE BELIEVER WHOLPHIN FUTURE McSWEENEY'S BOOKS THE AMANDA DAVIS HIGHWIRE FICTION AWARD INVITE A McSWEENEY'S AUTHOR TO SPEAK IN YOUR TOWN OR COLLEGE THE BEST AMERICAN NONREQUIRED READING McSWEENEY'S MONTHLY MAILING LIST BOOKSTORES WITH A McSWEENEY'S DISPLAY McSWEENEY'S-RELATED EVENTS AND VARIOUS TOUR DATES ORDER INQUIRIES AND ADDRESS CHANGES SUBMISSION GUIDELINES: FOR BOOKS FOR THE QUARTERLY FOR THE WEBSITE FOR WHOLPHIN McSWEENEY'S INTERNSHIPS CONTACT US - - - - LETTERS TO McSWEENEY'S LISTS McSWEENEY'S RECOMMENDS REVIEWS OF NEW FOOD NEW WHOLPHIN FILM DAN LIEBERT, VERBAL CARTOONIST TEDDY WAYNE'S UNPOPULAR PROVERBS NON-ESSENTIAL MNEMONICS BITCHSLAP: A COLUMN ABOUT WOMEN AND FIGHTING DISPATCHES FROM A GUY TRYING UNSUCCESSFULLY TO SELL A SONG IN NASHVILLE GLOBAL WAR ON BEDBUGS: LETTERS FROM BEDBUG CITY THE CONFLICTED EXISTENCE OF A FEMALE PORN WRITER OH MY GAWD: A COLUMN ABOUT A TEENAGER NAVIGATING RELIGION DISPATCHES FROM MANILA DISPATCHES FROM AN INDIAN CASINO THE CONVERGENCES CONTEST CHRIS WHITE ANSWERS PROFOUND QUESTIONS ABOUT THE PRESIDENTS REPORTS FROM THE PINBALL SCENE LETTERS FROM THE HELLBOX NOTES FROM AN AMATEUR SPECTATOR AT AMATEUR MIXED MARTIAL ARTS FIGHTS B.R. COHEN'S DAYS AT THE MUSEUM CONVERSATIONS AT A WARTIME CAFÉ AND HERE'S THE KICKER: MIKE SACKS'S CONVERSATIONS WITH HUMOR WRITERS GRANT MUNROE'S CORPORATE FOLKTALES SARAH WALKER SHOWS YOU HOW DISPATCHES FROM AN ENVIRONMENTAL LAWYER WHO IS TRYING TO GROW A MUSTACHE DISPATCHES FROM A HANGDOG BANKRUPT DISPATCHES FROM THE CAPITAL DISPATCHES FROM INDIA THE WINNER'S CIRCLE WITH ERIC FEEZELL SEAN MICHAELS LISTENS TO MUSIC IN MONTREAL SHORT IMAGINED MONOLOGUES KIDS' LETTERS TO PRESIDENT OBAMA STAINED TEETH: A COLUMN ABOUT WINE YOUR MONEY, YOUR JOB ... YOUR LIFE, WITH ALISON ROSEN KEVIN DOLGIN TELLS YOU ABOUT PLACES YOU SHOULD GO IN EUROPE ABOUT THE WILD THINGS ABOUT THE CONVALESCENT ABOUT FEVER CHART ABOUT GOD SAYS NO ABOUT ZEITOUN LETTERS FROM AN EARTH BALL TO, OR CONCERNING, SEAN HANNITY E-MAILS SENT TO THE UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA ENGLISH DEPARTMENT FLAG-FOOTBALL TEAM TRAVELING EUROPE IN STYLE WITH AUCKLAND DINGIROO, DARK-AGE TOURIST AND CRITIC OF FOOD AND DRINK JOHN MOE'S POP-SONG CORRESPONDENCES INTERVIEWS WITH PEOPLE WHO HAVE INTERESTING OR UNUSUAL JOBS FLIP: A COLUMN ABOUT SKATEBOARDING OPEN LETTERS TO PEOPLE OR ENTITIES WHO ARE UNLIKELY TO RESPOND DISPATCHES FROM A PUBLIC LIBRARIAN MICHAEL IAN BLACK IS A VERY FAMOUS CELEBRITY DAN KENNEDY SOLVES YOUR PROBLEMS WITH PAPER STEPHEN ELLIOTT'S POKER REPORT - - - - ADDITIONAL MATERIAL