I Just Read About That…

[WATCHED: December 16, 2012] McSweeney’s #11

THE DVD that came with Issue #11 was listed as a “Deleted Scenes” bonus feature for this issue.  The colophon of the book explains in great detail what they wanted to do and how they went about doing it all.  And that’s all quite amusing in itself.

Now, of course, there are no “deleted scenes” up front.  The DVD is, at first glance, authors reading from the works in the book.  But as you scroll down the menu, there are some deleted scenes, as well as behind the scenes features and audio commentary.  All in all there’s about two hours worth of stuff crammed in here and some of it is quite interesting.

DELETED SCENES

This is where the authors read from their works.  They each read between 3 and 6 minutes, with some of them reading different sections (Samantha Hunt), but most of them reading a chunk.  

TOM BISSELL- “God Lives in St. Petersburg”

T. CORAGHESSAN BOYLE-”Blinded by the Light”
I assume this is his house, it’s quite lovely

SEAN WARREN-”What Keeler Did to His Foot in the Navy”
Keeler could not be filmed, so his is just audio with an explanation that he was still in the Navy.

STEPHEN ELLIOTT-”I’ll Change Completely”
Alternate angle shows an intern eating.

DOUG DORST-”The Candidate in Bloom”
The same intern eats more.

DAVID MEANS-”Elyria Man”
The angle button produces gross pictures of dead Bogmen.

DAPHNE BEAL-”The Poor Thing”

SAMANTHA HUNT-”Blue”
Hunt is mesmerizing in this.  The alternate angle is of her fishtank.

JOYCE CAROL OATES-”The Gathering Squall”
JCO seems to have a hard time reading her story.

Some of the readings have multiple camera angles.  It’s a weird addition (I’ve never been a fan of the multiple angle DVD bonus thing).  There are also subtitles of some stories, although, in typical fashion, the subtitles are utterly unrelated and are often in another language–the book says they come from The History of the Goths and Visigoths in German and Portuguese;  A Biography of Gerald Ford in Portuguese; The Faerie Queen in Spanish and The Book of Genesis.

EXTRA-DELETED SCENES

• A night at the Brava Theater with Denis Johnson–an interview between Denis Johnson and Dave Eggers
• A scene from Denis Johnson’s Soul of a Whore–part of the excerpted Act II included in the issue
• Dow Mossman reads from his work
• Lit-Cribs: Jonathan Ames.  Ames takes us on a tour of his decked out house.  It’s a very funny look at the poor life of a writer.  They imply that there would be more, but I assume there never will be.
• A short film by Marcel Dzama and Neil Farber of Canada–This was a bizarre and cheaply made three-minute film.  It has none of the Dzama trademarks.

BEHIND THE SCENES OF THE DELETED SCENES AND EXTRA-DELETED SCENES

• The Making of McSweeney’s Issue #11 DVD–This is a very funny production in which we hear all of the sniping and backbiting that went on here.  Eggers hates everything that they’ve created; Samantha Hunt is instructed to wear a blanket on her head and read like a Russian peasant and an intern gets feisty over coffee.  I really laughed at this.
• The Making of McSweeney’s Issue #11 DVD (Director’s Commentary)–Hilariously the commentary is by Francis Coppola, who has nothing to do with the disc.
• The Editing of The Making of McSweeney’s Issue #11 DVD–This would be funnier if it were shorter because it is just a still camera on the editor as he manipulates the film (and leaves to answer the phone)
• The Editing of The Making of McSweeney’s Issue #11 DVD (Director’s Commentary)–Hilariously, the commentary is by John Hodgman and Sarah Vowell.  They make the length of the piece utterly worth it.

OUTTAKES FROM THE DELETED SCENES, EXTRA-DELETED SCENES AND FROM BEHIND THE SCENES OF THE DELETED SCENES AND EXTRA-DELETED SCENES

• Bloopers!–Indeed, bloopers by the readers.
• “Amazing Grace” sung by and with accompanying ukulele by Samantha Hunt
• “Summertime” sung in Nepali by Daphne Beal
• “Banjo Song” played on a window sill by Tom Bissell

This is a fun addition to the book and utterly worth watching, even if you’ve waited ten years to watch it like I did.