McSweeney's 28 (McSweeney's Quarterly Concern No. 28)

To be honest a book which I am going to hang on the wall gets some kudos before I even open it. This time from Mcsweeny's (quarterly books of short stories), we get four small books which joined together make a picture and, like a box of chocolates, underneath there is another 4 forming a new picture.

Each small book, like a child's fantasy book has a short tale, heavily and wonderfully illustrated. The stories like most short stories are mixed but nothing is bad and as everything is so short it's such fun trying the next tasty morsel. So from Brain Evensons black fairy story and a girl trying to survive the apocalypse to the Arthur Bradford's tale of a women who gave birth to an octopus, they are all worth a try. ( )

I nice little collection of modern fables from a variety of authors and illustrators. My favorite was Virgil Walker, the one about an octopus named Virgil and his turtle friend Mr. Beeker. The drawings made me laugh out loud. The creepiest one was about the girl and her book which she used in some sort of apocalyptic disaster. ( )

I really enjoyed the fable format of this McSweeney's. Several of the stories were highly entertaining, and there was only one that I didn't like all that well. Another excellent issue. ( )