3 of 30- McSweeney's 27

This issue of McSweeney's consists of 3 books, a book of 6 short stories, a sketchbook by Art Spiegelman and a book of art from a show called Lots of Things Like This.

Lots of Things Like This was an art show that included at that included text and was funny. It was also published by McSweeney's press as a separate book, Heather has it and I didn't like it that much. This much shorter insert just included the best of the art while the book had more artists with discussions & interviews. The following pictures were all taken from the book and I liked them a lot. I also loved that it included a drawing from Vonnegut.







The sketch book by Art Spiegelman was all done in ink that was similar to Crumb. It was interesting to see the subject of each sketch as it was perfectly random.



Lastly the book of short stories were all fantastic.

Larry Smith - Tight Like That
Great start to the book. About a not too bright gangster in approximately the 20's who falls in love with a librarian. Had me laughing quite a bit.

Jim Shepard - Classic Scenes of Farewell
Written from the point of view of a page in the 15th century the story is about a serial killer of children. Powerful and fascinating.

Ashlee Adams - Bird Feed
Excellent story about a woman who was raised by her grandmother dealing with her grief in a loveless marriage with a kid she doesn't want.

Liz Mandrell - Sod Turned Spring
Quick fun little story about a young pregnant couple in the home town of Earnest of the vein Earnest Goes to Camp.

Mikel Jollett - The Crack
The Crack is about a group of terminally ill friends who find a cave under the streets of LA. Loved the story as the characters were all extremely interesting and overshadowed the excitement from their adventures.

Steven King - A Very Tight Place
This story is also published in Just After Sunset and I remembered it from listening to the CD in the car. King tells the tale of a dispute by two desperate wealthy men from very different backgrounds feuding over a piece of land near their homes in FL. Like many, I've read almost every book King has put out and enjoyed everything except for 2 exceptions, The Cell & Eyes Of The Dragon. Where the majority of his stories involve the supernatural I especially like his stories that are purely human and this was a great one.