Punk Planet Eulogies

Well, we're overwhelmed.

In the past ten days, thousands of you have visited, shopped, bid, and bugged your friends to follow suit. From the first morning of the sale, we've been mindboggled by your response -- the enthusiasm, the encouragement, the stern commands to persevere. We've been sitting in our office all these days, emboldened and so happy, sharing with each other each kind note, each crazy order and new auction item, cheering at the end of each day when we tally up.

You've made a very real difference: because of your incredible response, McSweeney's isn't going anywhere. We're sticking around as long as you'll have us. The ship is damp but afloat, sails full, jib doing whatever the jib is supposed to do, and we're getting back to work. (For last-minute shoppers, we'll keep this sale going through the weekend, and the auction still includes pieces from Art Spiegelman, John Hodgman, David Foster Wallace, and Miranda July.)

All the support has been inspiring, and also humbling; working as we do on this remote western coast, running the internet equivalent of a highway produce stand, it's a big deal to see so many people swooping in. And we don't want to let you down -- we're very aware that we survive because of your trust in us and pretty much nothing else. Even beyond distributor bankruptcies, independent publishing is always a dicey business; just this week the great magazine Punk Planet announced that their latest issue would be their last. (That it lived for eighty issues is a testament to the dedication of Dan Sinker and everyone else involved.) No one's getting rich in this business, but your support can allow these labors of love to labor onwards.

Fortunately, we're clear of that for now; the wrathful creditor-filled waters have calmed a bit, and we're wiping our brows and returning to what we like best: actually making things we think you should see. In our last note, we mentioned Millard Kaufman, whose sterling first novel we'll be releasing this fall. We mentioned that the book is called Bowl of Cherries and that the author is ninety years old, but there are a few other noteworthy things about Millard that we didn't mention: He served with the U.S. Marine Corps on Guadalcanal and Okinawa. He is the Oscar-nominated screenwriter of the legendary Bad Day at Black Rock. He was awarded a special medal at the 1958 Brussels World's Fair. And: he is the co-creator of Mr. Magoo. This is true.

Also, he's a terrific guy, a marvelous writer, and Bowl of Cherries is one of the wittiest, most unexpected books we've seen in years, like a more hormonal Invitation to a Beheading told by a fifteen-year-old trapped in Iraq. Click here for more info and a look at the first chapter; the full novel will be out by October.

We've got lots more on the way, of course, but for now we mainly want to say thanks. You saved our necks this time, and we're grateful for it.

Yours warmly,
The folks at McSweeney's