McSweeney’s Issue 33: The San Francisco Panorama
One of our favorite new-school purveyors of good old-fashioned journalism McSweeney's launched their special edition, 320-page "San Francisco Panorama" this week, making it the latest of the literary journal's quarterly releases.
Already buzzed about, the McSweeney's team created the 15" x 22" broadsheet paper over five months with contributions from Stephen King, William T. Vollmann, Daniel Clowes and Roddy Doyle—over 150 writers, artists and photographers in all.
In addition to a comics section, the Panorama's design mimics a traditional paper, with magazine, food (click above image for detail) and sports sections included in the hefty edition along with hang-ready posters. Eye-catching diagrams and an overall contemporary layout give it a modern appeal.
The newspaper's biggest story is a 15,000-word piece on renovations of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, the result of a partnership with four media outlets. Other investigative articles come from Vollmann, who writes about gold mining, and Jesse Nathan, whose piece delves into unchecked marijuana farms. Music enthusiasts with undoubtedly enjoy the visual history on Bay Area bands.
Subscribers already familiar with McSweeney's are used to the element of surprise when receiving their issues. The San Francisco-based publisher headed by Dave Eggers reinvented the concept of literary journals for the Gen Y set through packaging (past editions have come in separate booklets to boxed "notebooks") and publishing the top writers of our time.
San Francisco's Chronicle partnered with McSweeney's to exclusively sell and distribute the paper in the Bay Area and starting yesterday locals can buy it for $5 from hawkers in the street. The rest of us can buy it online for $16 or in bookstores. You can get the full scoop here.
