Vincent Standley

I randomly decided to pick this up after reading a couple of M.T. Anderson's short stories and learning he was involved with this project. None of his writings appear, but I liked the idea of an absurdist journal.

It was pretty hit-and-miss for me. Mostly miss, but that may just have to do with this being the first issue. There was a mix of old and new (I think), and I liked some of the older stuff more than I liked the new. The new seemed to border on nonsensical rather than absurd and humorous, sort of McSweeney's territory, and I wasn't all that into it. Nor was I much into the poetry, but I almost never am.

Mostly disappointed, but I may try a couple other issues of the journal to see if the selections get more exciting, or perhaps longer. The shortness took some of the fun out of it too, since the stories could only be randomly silly and not the detail-oriented quirkiness that I enjoyed in Anerson's stories.… (altro)