MCSWEENEY'S FIELD RECORDINGS, VOLUME1 Close Calls and Dangerous Propositions

Publisher McSweeney's debut audio collection is predictably quirky and eclectic, much like their quarterly magazine. Jessica Anthony convincingly portrays a female bullfighter who must choose between her sport and the demands of her supporters in "The Death of Mustango Salvaje." Claire Light's "Pigs in Space" is a claustrophobic story of life on an extended spaceflight. Interspersed between the short stories (informally narrated by their authors, background sounds included) are satirical "reports" on attending a terrorist training camp from a 1980s cartoon. Informally produced—Ames stops reading at one point to ask for water—this collection captures the whimsy of McSweeney's perfectly, and features authors well suited to reading work aloud. M.T. © AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine [Published: OCTOBER 2008]