McSWEENEY’S ISSUE 40

Our first issue of 2012 features all kinds of amazing stuff—so much, from so many good people, that we turned it into two beautiful little books. There are new stories from Neil Gaiman and Etgar Keret and David Vann (can you guess which one contains pterodactyls and Aztecs?), there is Saïd Sayrafiezadeh awaiting the uprising at Occupy Wall Street and a special compendium of the incredible writing that inspired the Egyptian Revolution, and, in its own volume, there is Rick Bass’s extraordinary account of a week in Rwanda—the most ambitious nonfiction piece McSweeney’s has ever run, and without a doubt one of the best essays of the year. You don’t want to miss this one!

Table of Contents

Book 1:

Letters from Simon Rich, Amy Fusselman, Calvin Godfrey, Andrew Golden, Tom O’Donnell, Jesse Adelman, Daniel Galera, Jack Pendarvis, Rob Sears, and Simon De Ferry

Notes from a Bystander by Saïd Sayrafiezadeh
All Together Here by David Vann
The Sisters by Kevin Moffett
A Good One by Etgar Keret
Topsy Turvy by Jason Jägel
Adventure Story by Neil Gaiman
Big Windows by Nathan C. Martin
Scientific American by Adam Levin

I Am Going Down on January 25: Writing from the Egyptian Revolution
Collected by Noor Elashi and Daniel Gumbiner. Featuring work from Alaa El Aswany, Ahmad Fouad Negm, Asmaa Mahfouz, Gene Sharp, Amir Eid and Hany Adel, Adel Iskandar, Youssef Rakha, Tamim al-Bargouti, Hosni Mubarak, Bilal Fadl, Sarah Carr, and Alaa Abd El Fattah

Book 2: In My Home There Is No More Sorrow: Ten Days in Rwanda by Rick Bass

In 2011 Rick Bass traveled to Rwanda, roaming from the bustle of Kigali to the breathtaking volcanic preserves of the last few mountain gorillas. Now he offers an extraordinary portrait of what can be found in that country today—heartbreaking evidence of the genocide that occurred there a generation ago, dazzling natural beauty, and young people who have emerged from tragedy with a blazingly optimistic spirit and a profound artistic voice. In My Home There Is No More Sorrow is an enchanting, harrowing narrative achievement—an unforgettable exploration of history and human nature from one of our greatest essayists.