McSweeney's Issue 34

A decent collection of stories, with two standouts: “Afterworld” by Anthony Doerr and “The Wreck of the Beverley B.” by T.C. Boyle. But the real prize of McSweeney's 34 is Nick McDonell's account of the Iraq war, “The End of Major Combat Operations.” It deals with many of the same topics as “The Good Soldiers” (both books even quote the same material from the Army's counter-insurgency manual) but “The End of Major Combat Operations” does so in a much more engaging fashion. It's clear from reading both books that McDonnell is an author working as a reporter, while David Finkel is “just” a reporter. “The End of Major Combat Operations” is a much more interesting read that “The Good Soldiers” and I think it has the potential to be one of the best books written about the day-to-day operations of the Iraq war.