posted by Neil
So, last year I recorded a piece for a This American Life episode about adventure. It's a little memoir about adventures, and how I mostly don't have them.
It wasn't the piece I originally wrote, though, which was a short story. Or rather, it was the piece I originally wrote. Ira Glass wasn't sure about the personal one, when I sent it over, and wanted a short story, so I wrote a short story instead, but the producers preferred the personal memoir, and outvoted him, so that was what I recorded.
Ira Glass still liked the short story, and mentioned to Dave Eggars that I had a short story that he liked that nobody had read, and Dave Eggars wrote to my agent and asked if he could read it for McSweeneys, and I was happy that it wasn't going to be completely forgotten forever (I'd already forgotten it existed, and hadn't given it to anyone or submitted it anywhere, so it was just sitting getting dusty on a hard drive somewhere). I wasn't sure if it was any good, and had to be nudged by Dave several times to send it. It was called Adventure Story.
Having emailled it to Dave I forgot about it again. And then, in the post, this arrived:
I opened it. And I thought, I've got story in McSweeneys!
I read the story, a little nervously, now it was printed, and thought, and it's good.
It's a great issue of McSweeney's. The Jason Jagel comic insert, Topsy Turvy, is wonderful, the collected writing is, as always, excellent, varied, powerful (the book 2 account of a week in Rwanda; the writing that inspired the Egyptian uprising...). Beautiful production values.
You can get a copy of it at McSweeneys: https://store.mcsweeneys.net/products/mcsweeneys-issue-40
I'm really happy and proud and thrilled to be in it. Thank you, Ira Glass.
...
The New York Times has a page of me talking about books and what I'm reading and suchlike on it. (The blue picture is Jillian Tamaki's wonderful picture of me from it.) (They edited out the bit where I had President Obama talking about a hooker eating a man with her nether bits, which in retrospect might have been wise, but made that section less funny.)
It wasn't the piece I originally wrote, though, which was a short story. Or rather, it was the piece I originally wrote. Ira Glass wasn't sure about the personal one, when I sent it over, and wanted a short story, so I wrote a short story instead, but the producers preferred the personal memoir, and outvoted him, so that was what I recorded.
Ira Glass still liked the short story, and mentioned to Dave Eggars that I had a short story that he liked that nobody had read, and Dave Eggars wrote to my agent and asked if he could read it for McSweeneys, and I was happy that it wasn't going to be completely forgotten forever (I'd already forgotten it existed, and hadn't given it to anyone or submitted it anywhere, so it was just sitting getting dusty on a hard drive somewhere). I wasn't sure if it was any good, and had to be nudged by Dave several times to send it. It was called Adventure Story.
Having emailled it to Dave I forgot about it again. And then, in the post, this arrived:
I read the story, a little nervously, now it was printed, and thought, and it's good.
It's a great issue of McSweeney's. The Jason Jagel comic insert, Topsy Turvy, is wonderful, the collected writing is, as always, excellent, varied, powerful (the book 2 account of a week in Rwanda; the writing that inspired the Egyptian uprising...). Beautiful production values.
You can get a copy of it at McSweeneys: https://store.mcsweeneys.net/products/mcsweeneys-issue-40
I'm really happy and proud and thrilled to be in it. Thank you, Ira Glass.
...
Do you prefer a book that makes you laugh or makes you cry? One that teaches you something or one that distracts you?
Yes.
Wait, do you think those things are exclusive? That books can only be one or the other? I would rather read a book with all of those things in it: a laughing, crying, educating, distractin0 Comments on An extremely exciting week as of 1/1/1900Add a Comment
By: Anastasia Goodstein,
on 12/9/2009
Blog: Ypulse (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Ypulse Essentials, iCarly, mcsweeneys, Disney, myspace, pandora, imeem, Add a tag
'Gossip Girl' goes graphic (Yen Press will publish a manga based on the original series, to be serialized monthly in its Yen Plus anthology. Plus Will Shetterly releases his new vampire-themed YA novel for free via Lulu) (Robot6) (Boing Boing)
-... Read the rest of this post
By: Jessamyn West,
on 9/8/2009
Blog: librarian.net (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: library, libraries, humor, mcsweeneys, Add a tag
“[W]hile I’m here on campus, my life is totally going to revolve around that library. “
3 Comments on dudes! did you see the library they’ve got here?, last added: 9/9/2009
Display Comments
Add a Comment
“Fucking Dewey decimal, man. It’s tight.” Well, yeah, but what university uses Dewey? Psh.
Northwestern, for one. I’m pretty sure this character in the McSweeney’s thing is a Northwestern athlete, since those guys can’t be too excited about athletics.
The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, too. Mostly.