Contains the Letter section, six short stories and a tribute to the creative thinker and author Lawrence Weschler, who is among many things, the creator of the Convergences series that ran periodically in the first twenty or so of McSweeney's. Weschler is still with us and working today, thank goodness, Rachel Cohen simply wanted to thank Weschler for how he had chnged her way of experiencing the world and apparently many other people wanted to too. It's a cool section that includes reproductions of posters for events Weschler has put together, artwork, reminiscences and a great conversation between Errol Morris and Weschler.
Of the stories, the only ones I can remember are Jim Shepard's "The Ocean of Air," a period piece about early hot air balloonists in France, and Joe Meno's "Animals," about a recovering drug addict and his daughter who try to chase a couple of polar bears out of their Alaskan town before the bears tear something up.
Physically, this is a handsome hardbound book with a multi-textured cover and full-page illustrations to accompany each story. ( )

This is a book about making a mark. All six main stories here are very strong and insightful. Rebecca Curtis has a stand out piece about the question of how much to give and take. Joe Meno's piece is somewhat heavy on the symbolism but enjoyable enough. Pieces by Jim Shepard and Wells Tower both threaten to be overwhelmed by their authors differing stylistic quirks but equally prove themselves worth reading in the end. Two short pieces by Stuart Dybek and Tom Barbash both pack a punch. ( )

The fiction in McSweeney's 44 isn't particularly spectacular (though Jim Shepard's "The Ocean of Air" is quite nice), but the "Portraits of Lawrence Weschler" section, containing an interview between Weschler and Errol Morris, plus a series of essays on Weschler and his works, makes this volume worth reading all on its own. ( )