Troubled by the invasion of Iraq, Eggers subtitled this issue, "Timothy McSweeney's at War for the Foreseeable Future and He's Never Been So Scared" and also, "Timothy McSweeney's at War for the Forseeable Shitbrained Future." Total white cover with a single image of George W. Bush as a double-amputee.
I remember this as a particularly strong issue. The stories "Hadrian's Wall" by Jim Shepard and "The Doubtfulness of Water" by T.C. Boyle have stayed with me over the years. Also includes the final Act III of Denis Johnson's play "Soul of a Whore." ( )

Interesting mix. Interesting mix. ( )

I loved the cover of this issue, which was published back in the Fall of 2004. It has then President Bush on the cover in a pathetic (and apparently wounded) pose apologizing for the country being at war, along with commentary such as “we’re praying as fast as we can” on the spine. You remember 2004, right? You know, when we thought the presidency had hit rock bottom? Hahahahahaha, oh god we’re so screwed.

But I digress. There are some strong stories in this collection, particularly towards the beginning. One favorite was “The Doubtfulness of Water” by T.C. Boyle, chronicling a widow’s journey on horse from Boston to New York, which really transports us to 1702. Another was the nonfiction account of Xinjiang’s gerbil population explosion by Joshua Bearman, which, while not getting to the bottom of the situation in China because of red tape and the language barrier, does explore its history and related findings in a fun way.

There are many others worth noting, including “The Death of Mustango Salvaje” by Jessica Anthony, about a female matador, “Hadrian’s Wall” by Jim Shepard, about a Roman’s life on the frontier, and “The Woman Who Sold Communion” by Kate Braverman, about a woman who reconnects with her bohemian mother after being fired. I also liked “How it Floods” by Pia Z. Ehrhardt, about domestic abuse during a hurricane, “A Child’s Book of Sickness and Death” by Chris Adrian, about a child who has grown up with regular visits to the terminal illness ward, and “Executors of Important Energies” by Wells Tower, which has some really fantastic prose.

The edition was heading for a higher rating, but bogs down towards the end with some stories that either average or skippable entirely. “That Which I Am” by Silvia DiPierdomenico and the third act of “Soul of a Whore” by Denis Johnson stand out as stinkers. It’s subjective of course, and I appreciate the variety, creativity, and risk-taking that McSweeney’s represents. I also liked seeing the brief account of Eggers meeting an actual Timothy McSweeney in Galway, Ireland, as well as a letter from the man. ( )

McSweeney's Vol. 14 (2004) is a collection of seventeen pieces of short fiction, two "Convergences" essays by Lawrence Weschler, and journalistic remarks on giant Chinese gerbils. Bearman's gerbil exposé was fun, and reading through the fiction was good for me too, especially since most of it isn't the kind of work I'd normally be drawn to. Some I liked, some not so much. All were well written and worth reading, though.

The musings of a Roman foot soldier stationed on Hadrian's Wall, the internal dilemmas of a female matador, and T.C. Boyle's interesting take on Madam Knight's 1702 trip to New York were good reading. I was creeped out by Ryan Boudinot's dystopian "children have to kill their parents," and affected by Silvia DiPierdomenico's detail-heavy story of a cancer diagnosis. The murderous space pigs were also slightly creepy.

A good, eminently browseable collection of McSweeney's-type fiction.

http://philobiblos.blogspot.com/2009/04/book-review-mcsweeneys-vol-14.html ( )

http://12frogs.com/reading/reviews/2005/03/mcsweeneys-quarterly-concern-no-14/ ( )