Synopses & Reviews
For the past year, a group of high school students met at a publishing house in San Francisco every Monday night to read literary magazines, chapbooks, graphic novels, and countless articles. This committee was assisted by a group of students that met in the basement of a robot shop in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Together, and under the guidance of guest editor Adam Johnson, these high schoolers selected the contents ofand#160;
The Best American Nonrequired Readingand#160;2015.and#160;The writing in this book is very essential, if not required, like visiting the Louvre if youandrsquo;re in Paris. In any case, nothing in this book takes place in Paris, as far as we can recall, but it does feature an elephant hunt, the fall of a reality-TV star, a walk through Ethiopia, and much more of what Johnson calls andldquo;the most important examinations in life.andrdquo;and#160;
The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2015and#160;includes
LESLEY NNEKA ARIMAH, DANIEL ALARCandOacute;N, BOX BROWN, REBECCA CURTIS,and#160;VICTOR LODATO, CLAUDIA RANKINE, PAUL SALOPEK, PAUL TOUGH, WELLS TOWERand#160;
and othersand#160;
Adam Johnson, guest editor, teaches creative writing at Stanford University. He is the author ofand#160;Fortune Smiles, Emporium, Parasites Likes Us,and#160;andand#160;The Orphan Masterandrsquo;s Son,and#160;which was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in fiction. He has received a Whiting Writersandrsquo; Award and fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Guggenheim Foundation. His work has appeared inand#160;Esquire,and#160;Harperandrsquo;s Magazine,and#160;Playboy,and#160;GQ,and#160;theand#160;Paris Review,and#160;Granta,and#160;Tin House,and#160;theand#160;New York Times,and#160;andand#160;Theand#160;Best American Short Stories.
Review
"A motley collection to match every mood a relentless reader might have." — Kirkus
"Thats the genius of the series. It eschews big names, big issues, and award winners in favor of stuff thats simply entertaining...Something for everyone, indeed. " — Booklist
Review
"A collection that simply shouldn’t be missed."
--Miami Herald"Full of delights...a joy to read."
--The Stranger "Consistently impressive, with nary a dud in the 32 previously published selections...This book provides a fantastic compendium of "'In Case You Missed It.'"
--Publishers Weekly, starred review "A highly eclectic collection...The quality of the material included is uniformly high...Consider this a sumptuous feast for free (nonrequired, that is) reading." --Booklist
Review
"
If you need to fall in love with reading again-or just want a reminder that high school students deserve a lot more than their reading lists give them-
then THE BEST AMERICAN NONREQUIRED READING 2012 is the book for you."
-Bust "As a devoted fan of this series (this is the 11th volume), I can report that this year's anthology of 32 selections might be the best yet."
-Elizabeth Taylor, Chicago Tribune “An eclectic annual that will leave readers marveling over many of the discoveries...category-defying... All readers will find their own favorites that justify the collection as a whole.”
-Kirkus Reviews "Lively, eclectic and surprising..."
-Minneapolis Star Tribune
Review
"At its best, a gorgeous, glorious inferno of imagination." -- Kirkus "The current narrative strength of the comics medium gets a solid showcase in this years volume, which should inspire much further reading." -- Publishers Weekly "Were living in a new golden age of comics...and there isnt a better example of this than the Best American Comics series...Fans of the genre will find a surprise or two, but this is the ideal book to hand to a comics neophyte with mature tastes who is ready to be astounded." -- Booklist
Synopsis
Daniel Handler and Lemony Snicket compile the year's best new fiction, nonfiction, poetry, comics, and category-defying gems aimed at readers 15 and up.
Synopsis
Lively, eclectic and surprising. Minneapolis Star Tribune
Daniel Handler, aka Lemony Snicket, author of theenormously popularyoung adult series A Series of Unfortunate Events, takes over as editor for this volume. He will work with the students of 826 Valencia and 826 Michigan writing labs to compile newfiction, nonfiction, poetry, comics, and other category-defying gems, ensuring that if you need to fall in love with reading again or just want a reminder that high school students deserve a lot more than their reading lists give them then this is the book for you (Bust)."
Synopsis
“Lively, eclectic and surprising.” — Minneapolis Star Tribune Daniel Handler, aka Lemony Snicket, author of the enormously popular young adult series A Series of Unfortunate Events, takes over as editor for this volume. He will work with the students of 826 Valencia and 826 Michigan writing labs to compile new fiction, nonfiction, poetry, comics, and other category-defying gems, ensuring that “if you need to fall in love with reading again — or just want a reminder that high school students deserve a lot more than their reading lists give them — then this is the book for you” (Bust).
Synopsis
A selection of the best writing, including fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and comics, published in American periodicals during during 2012 aimed at readers fifteen and up.
Synopsis
Dave Eggers and his students at the 826 Valencia and 826 Michigan writing labs compile fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and comics, as well as category-defying gems that have become one of the hallmarks of this lively collection.
Synopsis
A collection of the year's best essays culled from periodicals.
Synopsis
Selected and introduced by Cheryl Strayed, the New York Times best-selling author of Wild and the writer of the celebrated column “Dear Sugar,” this collection is a treasure trove of fine writing and thought-provoking essays.
Synopsis
Adam Johnson, author of the Pulitzer Prizeandndash;winning
The Orphan Masterandrsquo;s Son, works with group of high school students out of 826 San Francisco to select the yearandrsquo;s best newand#160;fiction, nonfiction, poetry, comics, and category-defying gems aimed at readers 15 and up.
Synopsis
andldquo;Full of delights . . . A joy to read.andrdquo; andmdash; The Stranger Guest editor Adam Johnson, author of the Pulitzer Prizeandndash;winning The Orphan Masterandrsquo;s Son, works with a group of high school students out of 826 San Francisco to select The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2015. The BANR Committee gathers weekly in the basement of a small publishing house in San Francisco to read literary magazines, chapbooks, graphic novels, blogs, transcripts, and anything else that strikes their fancy. They are assisted by a group of 826 students that meet in the basement of a robot shop in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Synopsis
A selection of the best writing, including fiction, nonfiction, poetry, comics, and blogs, published during 2009. Edited by Dave Eggers.
Synopsis
The Best American Series®
First, Best, and Best-Selling
The Best American series is the premier annual showcase for the countrys finest short fiction and nonfiction. For each volume, the very best pieces are selected by a leading writer in the field, making the Best American series the most respected—and most popular—of its kind.
The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2011 includes
Daniel Alarcón, Clare Beams, Sloane Crosley, Anthony Doerr, Neil Gaiman, Mohammed Hanif, Mac McClelland, Michael Paterniti, Olivier Schrauwen,
Gary Shteyngart, and others
Synopsis
The Best American Series®
First, Best, and Best-Selling
The Best American series is the premier annual showcase for the country’s finest short fiction and nonfiction. Each volume’s series editor selects notable works from hundreds of magazines, journals, and websites. A special guest editor, a leading writer in the field, then chooses the best twenty or so pieces to publish. This unique system has made the Best American series the most respected — and most popular — of its kind.
The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2012 includes
Kevin Brockmeier, Judy Budnitz, Junot Díaz, Louise Erdrich,
Nora Krug, Julie Otsuka, Eric Puchner, George Saunders,
Adrian Tomine, Jess Walter, and others
Synopsis
A collection of the best graphic pieces published in American periodicals during 2012, compiled by Jeff Smith, author and illustrator of the comic Bone.
Synopsis
The Best American Comics showcases the work of both established and up-and-coming contributors. Editor Jeff Smith—creater of the classic comic Bone, a comedy/adventure about three lost cousins from Boneville—has culled the best stories from graphic novels, pamphlet comics, newspapers, magazines, mini-comics, and web comics to create this cutting-edge collection.
Synopsis
An eclectic volume introduced by David Sedaris and compiled by Dave Eggers and students of his San Francisco writing center, who dont leave a stone unturned in their search for nonrequired gems. Cover art by art by Maurice Sendak.
About the Author
ROBERT ATWAN has been the series editor of The Best American Essays since its inception in 1986. He has edited numerous literary anthologies and written essays and reviews for periodicals nationwide. Cheryl Strayed is the author of #1 New York Times bestseller Wild, the New York Times bestseller Tiny Beautiful Things, and the novel Torch. Wild was chosen by Oprah Winfrey as her first selection for Oprah's Book Club 2.0 and optioned for film by Reese Witherspoon's production company, Pacific Standard. Wild was selected as the winner of the Barnes & Noble Discover Award and also received an Indie Choice Award, an Oregon Book Award, a Pacific Northwest Booksellers Award, and a Midwest Booksellers Choice Award. Strayed's writing has appeared in The Best American Essays, the New York Times Magazine, the Washington Post Magazine, Vogue, Allure, The Missouri Review, The Sun, The Rumpus--where she has written the popular "Dear Sugar" column since 2010--and elsewhere. Her books have been translated into twenty-eight languages around the world. She holds an MFA in fiction writing from Syracuse University and a bachelors degree from the University of Minnesota. She lives in Portland, Oregon with her husband and their two children.