Call me a snob, but I appreciate McSweeney's, not only for the work they produce, but also for they way they encourage young writers. I'm pretty much on board for anything that comes from the mind of Dave Eggers. And have you seen their packaging? Divine.
On Friday afternoon, they hooked me with a tweet that said: "An Open Letter to the Mix Tape Made for Me By My College Boyfriend, Now Deceased." Intrigued, I clicked through, only to learn about the long-standing column "Open Letters to People or Entities Who Are Unlikely to Respond." Naturally, I proceeded to read no less than eighteen of the submissions.
I'm still picking my favorites, but if you're looking for a quick read, I recommend the following:
- AN OPEN LETTER TO EVERYONE WHO, WHEN MY FIANCÉ LEFT ME, TOLD ME IT WAS “HIS LOSS.”
- AN OPEN LETTER TO THE MARKETING LADY IN MY OFFICE WHO ASKED ME WHAT MY MAJOR WAS IN COLLEGE, AND WHEN I SAID ENGLISH, RESPONDED WITH, “YOU’LL NEVER GET ANYWHERE WITH THAT.”
- AN OPEN LETTER TO FRIENDS AND FAMILY REGARDING INQUIRIES ABOUT MY REPRODUCTIVE PLANS.
- AN OPEN LETTER TO MY ITALIAN SLACKS THAT RIPPED AT THE SEAM JUST PRIOR TO DEPOSITION.
- AN OPEN LETTER TO MY DAD BEFORE HE BEGAN TAKING ZOLOFT.
And just for good measure, a post about the "lovable, comic-book inspired, sans-serif badassery" that is Comic Sans.