mcsweeney’s
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Accidental Transformation
Since the accident, he hasn’t been the same. He talks a little lower. He’s isn’t quick to laugh. He takes more time to himself in the evenings, and isn’t his chipper self in the mornings. Something about the accident changed…
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If Hillary Clinton Wrote a Dystopian YA Novel
There was no denying it, Athena was lost. She had walked the road to Deasey Castle for many years, but now, no matter what road she took, the glorious castle spires were no closer. Escape the never-ending political sideshow for…
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When White Saviors Create Literary Journals
Hey! We’re white! And we all voted for Obama! Twice! We should do something to help the literary downtrodden. American literature is already frustrating enough with publishing sorely lacking in diversity. But things can be even worse when the white-dominated industry…
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Talking Passover
Time to gather for Seder: over at McSweeney’s, Rumpus Funny Women Editor Elissa Bassist has a handy guide (or a cautionary tale) of conversation topics to get through Passover’s rituals.
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A Focus Group for Poetry
Is workshop not giving you enough helpful feedback on your poetry? Try framing a focus group about poetry instead.
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A Very Good Suggestion
Elisa Abatsis took our advice and wrote like a motherfucker—head over to McSweeney’s to see what the results have been.
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Drinking Games for Literary Fiction
If reading literary fiction isn’t already an enthralling activity for you, why not try a drinking game to go along with it? McSweeney’s has a pretty good one, including such gems like drinking if there’s footnotes or an overdetermined car…
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DIY Presidents
I believe in an activated, alkalized, adaptogenic, artisanal America, and I’m glad that I can count on your vote in this, that most authentic of experiences, the American Presidential Primary. Over at McSweeney’s, Summer Brennan pens the perfect artisanal presidential candidate’s…
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Dear McSweeney’s: Two Letters from Stephen Elliott
I’ve been traveling for two weeks and people prone to the kind of thoughts I’m prone to should never be alone out in the world.
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School of (an Author’s) Life
Turns out writing projects and homework assignments are pretty much the same! Over at McSweeney’s, Nick Hornby offers his son eight handy excuses, learned over the course of Hornby’s own thirty-year career, for not handing in his school assignments.
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If Walt Whitman Rode a Rollercoaster
Swift sweeping clusters of revelation! Plunging into pockets of the earth’s belly, and Shooting up into the blue and white woven infinity of the sky! Walt Whitman, author of Leaves of Grass and Song of Myself, is famous for his…
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How a Freelancer Prays
The writing life is hard, especially in the finance department and in the unstable nature of a freelancer’s status. Over at McSweeney’s, Marco Kaye writes a poignant representation of the inner monologue of the pleading, praying freelancer: Assist me in negotiating…