Is Granta still the best place to look for new, excellent novelists, asks the Times of London? Apparently not, even though Granta published their 100th issue this month. The incredibly precious McSweeney's, published by Dave Eggers, is the new heavyweight contender. It's gone from "an idiosyncratic literary magazine to a new-look publishing empire."

So, what is it that makes Eggers's empire so influential? The most obvious driving force behind its dramatic rise is the charismatic and indefatigable founder himself, who is not only a beloved author and literary style guru, but has also proved to be a crafty entrepreneur, busily creating a very modern publishing empire.

...The ideal McSweeney's reader (or writer) lives in Brooklyn, wears interesting T-shirts, has a blog he works on in coffee shops, and knows it's cool to oppose globalisation but uncool to go on too much about it

The McSweeney's author is not above playing language games or creating work that is aware of its artificiality, although he is also careful not to let this playfulness detract from the work's emotional impact. There is by no means a house style, but there is something that might be called the McSweeney's tone: a buzzing, mischievous hipness, wrapped around a core of sentiment and hopefulness.

McSweeney's also strives to be socially relevant. It wants to make the world a better place - or at least more like the cooler parts of Brooklyn.