McSweeney's Issue 16

Issue 16 presents new stories from McSweeney's regulars like Roddy Doyle and Denis Johnson, and exploits a never-before-seen tripartite format to bring you a hilarious Ann Beattie novella and a special deck-of-cards story from Robert Coover, one of the great masters of American experimental fiction. This issue uses more cloth than any issue to date. Also, it comes with a comb.Table of ContentsThe QuarterlyBrian Evenson – Mudder TongueThere came a certain point, in his speech, in his confrontation with others, in his smattering with the world, that Hecker realized something was wrong.Denis Johnson – LuckyLast night at 3 a.m. President Kennedy had been killed.Nathaniel Minton – Viva MesopotamiaStanley Ellsworth, the anthropologist who floated deep into hostile jungles along South American rivers, developed gout in his foot, and a young doctor named Mettergit amputated and mummified it using ancient techniques he learned from an issue of National Geographic maazine.Adam Levin – Considering the Bittersweet End of Susan FallsSusan Falls hates the flying dreams. She wakes up and she can’t walk, which is beside the point.Miranda Mellis – The Doctor of Mental HealthI am a fifty-year-old vegetarian man in decent health, though somewhat sedentary.Kevin Moffett – The Medicine ManWhen I’m low, I go to Bel-Air Plaza to look for the medicine man, Broom.Pia Z. Ehrhardt – DrivewayTwinette is one of the moms on my son Eric’s baseball team. She took off to Colorado with another man and left her three boys in New Orleans with her husband.Hannah Pittard – There Is No Real Name for Where We LiveThere was a hanging in the park last night. There was a hanging and now everyone is on edge.Roddy Doyle – Home to HarlemHe can’t find himself on the registration form.The NovellaAnn Beattie with Harry Mathews - Mr. Nobody At AllI’m really happy to be here today, even though I’m broken-hearted.The Story Told On Thirteen Interchangeable Playing CardsRobert Coover - Heart SuitAll on one summer's day, the King of Hearts calls for the tarts baked for him by his Queen, only to find they have been stolen.The Combis a comb.