Summer 2009. Six teenagers are poised at the brink of adulthood, ready and eager to escape their small town and make it big in the big city. There’s just one problem… the SAT. Stephen Elliott, Peter Orner, Rachel Sherman, Caren Beilin, K. Kvashay Boyle, and Adam Levin star in this hit romantic comedy about tough choices and even tougher tests.
In this, the third installment of the McSweeney’s Field Recordings, six authors ventured into the great outdoors to read and record their short stories about bullies, juvies, teachers, young love, and eavesdropping.
K. Kvashay Boyle: St. Chola
K. Kvashay Boyle read from the schoolyard of the middle school where her story takes place. “St. Chola” brings us the story of a young Muslim girl struggling to be true to her culture and identity, while trying to make it as an American teenager.
McSweeney’s Issue 9; Run time: 34:44
Stephen Elliott: Forefathers
A twenty-something returns to the juvenile detention facility where he spent his childhood. A thirteen-year-old first-time robber returns to the scene of the crime. In “Forefathers”—read while on a walk to San Francisco’s Dolores Park—Stephen Elliott explores one man’s struggle to pass on the lessons he has learned.
McSweeney’s Issue 11; Run time: 28:48
Rachel Sherman: The Neutered Bulldog
From Prospect Park in Brooklyn, Rachel Sherman reads a story of a philandering teacher. The joyful shrieks of children playing bely the seriousness and unsettling twists of Sherman’s story.
McSweeney’s Issue 12; Run time: 26:33.
Adam Levin: Considering the Bittersweet End of Susan Falls
Our narrator Adam Levin sits on “something of a balcony” in Chicago with his girlfriend as he reads his tragic story of the brilliant Susan Falls. Listener’s tip! At the part where the narrative and Susan’s homework assignment are being read at the same time, listen to just your right earphone to hear the narrative, and just the left earphone to hear Susan’s thoughts on the biblical story of Adam and David. Don’t worry, this will make sense when you get there.
McSweeney’s Issue 16; Run time: 42:56
Caren Beilin: I’m the Boss So Do What I Say
Caren Beilin puts our other writers’ outdoorsmanship to shame. She reports from Rock Creek, just outside Missoula, Montana, where she and her buddies have settled in for a day of fly-fishing and short story reading. “I’m the Boss So Do What I Say” is a tale of pan-socioeconomic summer love, teenage recklessness, and a pesky stain that won’t come out no matter what our young protagonists try.
McSweeney’s Issue 23; Run time: 12:56
Peter Orner: Pampkin’s Lament
Peter harnessed the formidable thespian talents of three McSweeney’s staffers to bring “Pampkin’s Lament” to life. Late at night, a young boy listens from the staircase as his father consoles gubernatorial candidate Mike Pampkin, whose wife has decided to leave him. With Heidi Meredith, Brian McMullen, and Andrew Leland reading the story’s dialogue, this track has all the feel of an old-timey radio track being read from a park “where people bring their dogs to relieve themselves.”
McSweeney’s Issue 21; Run time: 14:41
