THE BELIEVER JUNE 2014

$16.00 $8.00


After a half decade away The Believer has returned home to McSweeney’s. To celebrate the momentous occasion, we’ve dug through our archives and found an extremely limited number of classic and timeless issues for your purchasing pleasure. Once these are gone, they’re gone forever.

Table of Contents:

Heart of the Emerald Triangle by Lee Ellis

Despite legalization efforts nationwide, outlaw marijuana farmers still run the economy—and the culture—of Humboldt County, California.

George Washington’s “Mammy” by Louis Chude-Sokei

P. T. Barnum alternately described one of his earliest sideshow characters, Joice Heth, as ancient and as less than human. The fact that his audiences believed either story says something troubling about America.

Sarah Braman interviewed by Ross Simonini

“The brain is good and there’s lots of stuff I need to use it for, but I’m not sure the studio is the best place for it.”

Road to Rapid City by Brian T. Edwards

A father builds an epic family road trip around American films that, it turns out, haven’t all aged particularly well.

“Birds”: a new poem by Rebecca Lindenberg

Peter Matthiessen interviewed by Jonathan Meiburg
In
An interview conducted shortly before his death, the author and explorer discusses Zen, nature, and nearly hitting the big time.

Elif Shafak interviewed by Kaya Genç

“There is a side of me that is mystical or irrational. It tells me that we are merely scribes, that we don’t own the stories we write.”

Real Life Rock Top Ten by Greil Marcus

Ken Baumann interviewed by Sabra Embury
“I feel like human beings were never meant to have such extreme attention. Ecologically, this edifice of culture that we’ve constructed totally supports a way of life that’s asymmetrical to what nature has built so slowly and surely.”

The Process with Jennifer Kabat

Longtime New Yorker art critic Peter Schjeldahl discusses his elaborate annual Fourth of July fireworks display.

What the Swedes Read by Daniel Handler

Pillow of Air by Lawrence Weschler

“Comics” edited by Alvin Buenaventura

Reviews

Rachel Z. Arndt on P. D. Eastman, Stephen Burt on Massachusetts snowstorms, Mary Mann on Ivan Vladislavic.

Carolina López interviewed by Lisa Locascio
Robert Bolaño’s widow talks about their life together, his books, and his love of the computer game Civilization.

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