One of the most handsome editions of McSweeney's, this issue is a sturdy hardback with illustrations taken from amazing Eastern European match book covers. The very short piece by Joyce Carol Oates, called "Labyrinth," is printed on the endpaper in the shape of a labyrinth. ( )

The coolest thing about this issue of McSweeney's was the collection of eastern European matchbox labels used as illustrations, though Joyce Carol Oates' creepy labyrinthine story on the rare endpaper was also a nice touch. ( )

Another good mix of short stories from McSweeney's Quarterly. Some of my favorites in this edition were The Painting by Roddy Doyle, Joyce Carol Oates' Labyrinth, and The Land of Our Enemies by Nathaniel Minton. Minton's piece dealt with sort of a Lord of the Flies jungle survival theme which went far into the bizarre and past surrealism into somewhere strange. It sort of felt like I was interpreting a Mayan pictograph on a long lost stone wall where the story is filled with gorey myth and you know that part of it was probably based on truth. The briefest and creepiest story by far is Joyce Carol Oates, and large part of that has to do with the text being written in a spiral so you have to turn either yourself or the book in order to read a story about descending into the cellar of a deranged aunt.

As always, McSweeney's incorporates art into the the book design and this time they used a collection of Eastern European matchbox cover art that appear to be from the 70's. The themes are quite diverse and interesting. I really liked the fire safety images and the child hygiene theme as well.

Overall, a good read, with a good design. ( )