I can’t believe I’m saying this but I’m really torn about this issue. On one hand there were some amazing stories but they had some others that I didn’t like. The binding was cool as there were 2 different sides of the book and the artwork from the outside and inside looped together to make different scenes. One side was a collection of action stories & the other all circled around Donald Barthelme with a symposium then 2 of his short stories.
Honestly I’m not a fan of Mr. Barthelme from his two short stories. He has a short choppy style that wasn’t enjoyable to read. His first story the Bed was about a man buying a bed for his ex wife. There were some funny lines in it and I can see why authors love him as he says a lot indirectly. The second story lost my interest completely within three pages, I had originally stopped reading it but decided to go back and finish it. Just not a fan of his style. The symposium lost my interest early on as I found it extremely boring and filled with flowery bullshit praise so I skipped it. There was a time that I would finish everything I started reading but in the last couple years I've gotten away from that in books I'm reading for pleasure.
The other side of the book I loved as it was all fast paced action stories. There were three that particularly stood out among a strong group. Bored to Death by Jonathan Ames was about him being bored and becoming a private investigator just like his favorite books. Interesting how it was about him but entirely fictional. Joe Meno – Stockholm, 1979 was about a botched bank robbery and circles around Stockholm Syndrome. The characters were interesting and ended up revolving around the original bank robbers dirt bag friend who was brought in to try to help and a beautiful female hostage. The third standout story was The Last Adventure of the Blue Phantom by Eric Hanson. Without giving too much away this story revolved around ancient treasures found in a tropical jungle and the fight over that treasure when it's brought home. There were a couple really good twists and the narrative was extremely well written. Great way to end the issue and one of my all time favorite McSweeney's stories.
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