In the introduction, Eggers explains that this edition contains no Letters to the Editor section and lacks the regular contributions from the in-house writers because it was produced quickly and cheaply. Seems the cost of producing and shipping the previous year's unique editions was bringing the staff back to reality. This volume is paperback and a throwback to McSweeney's first three issues with a text-heavy front cover.
Oddly, this is the first McSweeney's that feels like what the magazine is today. Less experimental typesetting, less essays and more focus on good fiction by accomplished writers.
Overall, this is a solid collection. My favorites include the amazing William T. Vollman's "Three Meditations on Death" involving time spent in the Paris catacombs and the San Francisco morgue. The goal is to provoke thoughts about dying and it succeeds on many levels. "Soul of a Whore," the first act of a play by Denis Johnson is like the play "Bus Stop," if Inge's classic had shamans and demonic possession. The classic short story "Salt," by Isaac Babel is part of an introduction to Russian skaz, an oral-like Russian genre that slyly makes fun of the narrator and the ridiculous regime he thrives in. Travel journalist Jeff Greenwald's wry account of his journey to holy Mt. Kailash in the Himalayas in "My New Best Friend" is full of political, physical and hardships but in a humorous way. ( )

McSweeney's 9 (2002) contains twelve short pieces (nine stories, a play and three essays). My favorites were the three non-fiction pieces: William T. Vollmann's "Three Meditations on Death," Val Vinokurov's "Talking Fiction: What is Russian Skaz?" (followed by Isaac Babel's "Salt"), and Jeff Greenwald's "My New Best Friend," about a trek to a remote Himalayan mountain sacred to Hindus and Buddhists. The latter was bizarre, and amusing.

The fiction here I found just a bit too edgy for my liking, but I'm sure others will enjoy it.

http://philobiblos.blogspot.com/2010/04/book-review-mcsweeneys-vol-9.html ( )