TIMOTHY McSWEENEY’S ULTIMATE COMBO SUBSCRIPTION

Giving this combo subscription as a gift? Click here to download an official printable PDF gift notice.

This is the combo subscription for McSweeney’s Quarterly Concern, McSweeney’s New Release Subscription, and Illustoria magazine. To subscribe to any of these on their own, or for multiple variations thereof, click here.

“There are few examples in publishing that equal the care and inventiveness McSweeney’s offers their readers—the industry at large should take note.”
—Bookends and Beginnings, Evanston, IL

As we look ever onwards—galloping toward the future—we’ve put together our most ambitious combo subscription yet. Our Ultimate Combo Subscription is practically guaranteed to satisfy every reader in your life, young and old. In one fell swoop, you’ll get: four issues of our multi-award-winning McSweeney’s Quarterly, three issues of Illustoria, the beloved magazine for younger readers, AND the next six non-children’s titles published by McSweeney’s Publishing. What more could you ask for? Let us know and maybe we’ll figure out how to include that next time. In the meantime, we’d like to think this ludicrously good deal will tide you over.

Take a look at what you’ll have coming your way:

McSweeney’s Issue 70
Inside Issue 70—compiled by deputy editor James Yeh—you’ll find brilliant fiction (and two essays) from places near and far; including Patrick Cottrell’s story about a surprisingly indelible Denver bar experience; poignant, previously untranslated fiction from beloved Danish writer Tove Ditlevsen; Argentine writer Olivia Gallo’s English language debut about rampaging urban clowns; the rise and fall of an unusual family of undocumented workers in rural California by Francisco González; and Indian writer Amit Chaudhuri’s sojourn to the childhood home of Brooklyn native Neil Diamond. Readers will be sure to delight in Guggenheim recipient Edward Gauvin’s novella-length memoir-of-sorts in the form of contributors’ notes, absorbing short stories about a celebrated pianist (Lisa Hsiao Chen) and a reclusive science-fiction novelist (Eugene Lim), flash fiction by Véronique Darwin and Kevin Hyde, and a suite of thirty-six very short stories by the outsider poet Sparrow. Plus letters from Seoul, Buenos Aires, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, and Lake Zurich, Illinois, by E. Tammy Kim, Drew Millard, and more.

Illustoria #20: Mystery
Prepare to be awed by Illustoria Issue 20: Mystery featuring a glow-in-the-dark cover by Cátia Chen. In this issue, explore the hidden and unexplained wonders of the globe. Discover all things mysterious, from insect communication to why zebras have stripes. Ponder childhood myths with guest curator Isabel Roxas and her troupe of illustrators. Make a Middle Ages-era puzzle and an alien toast snack. Learn about the strange behavior of the pink glow worm and green sea slug. Plus, read creative writing from young folks, interviews with youth activists, and much more.

Daddy Boy by Emerson Whitney
After a decade-long relationship with a dominatrix he called Daddy, Emerson Whitney had begun to crave something besides submission. It came as a full surprise—submission had been so central to his early adulthood, to his trans identity. Dizzied by new questions of control and aging, and living in a tent while his relationship ends, Emerson stumbles upon an advertisement for a storm-chasing tour. “For thrill seekers,” it says. Unsure what else to do, he signs up.

Daddy Boy follows Emerson as he packs into a van full of strangers and drives up and down the country—staying in Days Inns and eating bags of carrots from Walmart and wanting nothing more than to surrender to the force of a colossal storm. “We had no idea where we were going,” Emerson writes, “just waiting for one cloud to pop.” Roaming the prairie landscape of his childhood, Emerson recalls his adoptive dad, Hank‚ unflinching and extremely Texan, and his biological dad, who was rarely around. From the van’s trash-strewn back seat, and in the face of these looming figures, Emerson begins to wonder: Did he want to be Daddy now?

And then?
We’ll follow these up with issues of Illustoria centered around Humor and Invention; three more volumes of our award-winning McSweeney’s Quarterly; and more anthologies, novels, and works of nonfiction of the kind of cutting-edge literary content for all ages that readers of McSweeney’s Publishing have come to expect for over two decades.

IMPORTANT LOGISTICAL INFORMATION: All subscriptions placed by June 15, 2023 will begin with Illustoria #20: Mystery, McSweeney’s 70, and Daddy Boy. All subscriptions to McSweeney’s Quarterly automatically renew after four issues, at a reduced price of $80, while the McSweeney’s New Release Subscriptions renew after six issues at a price of $95, and Illustoria after three issues at a price of $40. In the event of any future rate changes, we will notify you via email. If you’d like to cancel any of the three subscription at any time prior to its auto-renewal, you can log in to your account and adjust your subscription settings. Or send an email to custservice@mcsweeneys.net with the subject lines “End Quarterly Renew,” “End New Release Renew,” “End Illustoria Renew,” or “End Ultimate Renew” depending on your desires. Refunds will be accepted only up until the first issue of your renewal is shipped. If you’d like to give the Quarterly Concern as a one-time gift, purchase a gift subscription here. Any subscription purchased with the “gift” option marked at checkout will not be enrolled in autorenew.

International shipping costs for the full thirteen-publication combo subscription: $90