Endorsement: Small Chair and the McSweeney’s iPhone Application

I’ll be honest: I’m kind of a self-hating iPhone owner. Ok, maybe not self-hating, but I do make a concerted effort to avoid flaunting my little pocket gem — both in real life and on the Internet. However, I’m breaking my own rule for this: McSweeney’s just released an iPhone application, and I think it’s quite wonderful.

But it’s not just the beautifully designed little software package I’m enamored with, it’s this thing they’re doing called Small Chair. The price of the application ($5.99) also gets you a six month subscription to Small Chair, which is essentially a McSweeney’s imprint for the iPhone. I just finished reading Wells Tower’s short story “Raw Water” on the bus today, and next week I’ve been promised a Spike Jonze short film featuring Where the Wild Things author Maurice Sendak.

Admittedly, I’ve been a sucker for anything Dave Eggers has touched since I finished reading A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, and this is certainly no exception.

(Photo from the website of Russel Quinn, the talented fellow who pitched, designed, and developed the McSweeney’s application)