Mcsweeney's #16

This will be as unlike a regular book as you can imagine. Instead, it'll take the form of a fold-out cover (not just the jacket, but the actual board), with a drawing silkscreened onto the cloth on one side, and the other divided into four quadrants, each with a pocket. And these pockets will contain -- a booklet with stories by Denis Johnson, Roddy Doyle and a bunch of newcomers; a novella (in its own notebook) by Ann Beattie, with a guest appearance by Harry Mathews; a story by Robert Coover, written on the thirteen hearts from a deck of cards that can be shuffled and read in any order; an ordinary comb. So, in short, McSweeney's Issue 16 is an elaborate concoction brought to you by the very people responsible for the gorgeous McSweeney's Comics Issue and the enlightening Future Dictionary of America. A real treat, to be sure.