Synopses & Reviews
Review
"Amusing and meaningful, light and yet profound, like the best magazine in the world which unfortunately comes out only once a year." Kirkus Reviews
Review
"Although some of the fiction is a bit too more mired in the kind of earnestness one tends to outgrow (to be fair, this is really a matter of taste), many of the nonfiction pieces are hilarious and/or compelling." Library Journal
Synopsis
The debut last year of this newest addition to the Best American series was an instant hit with readers of all ages. We are thrilled to announce that Dave Eggers will be editing the volume annually. Again he will be choosing the finest, most interesting, and least expected fiction, nonfiction, humor, alternative comics, and more from publications large, small, and on-line The Onion, The New Yorker, Shout, Time, and Zoetrope, to name just a few.
Synopsis
Since its inception in 1915, the Best American series has become the premier annual showcase for the country's finest short fiction and nonfiction. For each volume, the very best pieces are selected by an editor who is widely recognized as a leading writer in his or her field, making the Best American series the most respected -- and most popular -- of its kind.
Dave Eggers, who will be editing The Best American Nonrequired Reading annually, has once again chosen the best and least-expected fiction, nonfiction, satire, investigative reporting, alternative comics, and more from publications large, small, and on-line -- The Onion, The New Yorker, Shout, Time, Zoetrope, Tin House, Nerve.com,and McSweeney's, to name just a few. Read on for "Some of the best literature you haven't been reading . . . And it's fantastic. All of it." (St. Petersburg Times).
Lynda Barry Jonathan Safran Foer Lisa Gabriele Andrea Lee J. T. Leroy Nasdijj ZZ Packer David Sedaris
About the Author
Dave Eggers, author of the phenomenal bestseller
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius and editor of
McSweeney's, is series editor. He is the founder of 826 Valencia, a San Francisco writing lab for city youth.
Zadie Smith (guest editor) is the author of White Teeth and The Autograph Man.
Table of Contents
Foreword by Dave Eggers xi
Introduction: Dead Men Talking by Zadie Smith xxiv
Sherman Alexie. What Sacagawea Means to Me 1
from Time
Lynda Barry. Common Scents 5
from One! Hundred! Demons!
Ryan Boudinot. The Littlest Hitler 24
from Mississippi Review
Mark Bowden. Tales of the Tyrant 33
from Atlantic Monthly
Michael Buckley. The Meticulous Grove of Black and Green 76
from Alaska Quarterly Review
Judy Budnitz. Visiting Hours 97
from Harpers Magazine
David Drury. Things We Knew When the House Caught Fire 116
from Little Engines
Jonathan Safran Foer. A Primer for the Punctuation of Heart Disease 135
from The New Yorker
Lisa Gabriele. The Guide to Being a Groupie 143
from Nerve.com
Amanda Holzer. Love and Other Catastrophes: A Mix Tape 148
from Story Quarterly
Chuck Klosterman. The Pretenders 150
from New York Times Magazine
K. Kvashay-Boyle. Saint Chola 159
from McSweeneys
Dylan Landis. Rana Fegrina 174
from Tin House
Andrea Lee. Golden Chariot 184
from Zoetrope
J. T. Leroy. Stuff 196
from 7 x 7
Douglas Light. Three Days. A Month. More. 202
from Alaska Quarterly Review
Nasdijj. Touching Him 211
from Columbia Review
Ill Try Anything With a Detached Air of Superiority 222
from The Onion
George Packer. How Susie Bayers T-Shirt Ended Up on Yusuf Mamas
Back 224
from New York Times Magazine
ZZ Packer. The Ant of the Self 237
from The New Yorker
James Pinkerton. How to Write Suspense 258
from Modern Humorist
David Sedaris. Rooster at the Hitchin Post 263
from Esquire
Jason Stella. Astroturf: How Manufactured Grassroots Movements Are
Subverting Democracy 273
from Shout
John Verbos. Lost Boys 280
from Pindeldyboz
Daniel Voll. Riot Baby (Life in South Central Los Angeles) 294
from Esquire
Contributors Notes 321
Notable Nonrequired Reading of 2002 328