The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2009 [Paperback]

Dave Eggers (Editor), Marjane Satrapi (Introduction)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 8, 2009 | Series: Best American (Book 2009)

This "great volume" highlights the "very best of this year's fiction, nonfiction, alternative comics, screenplys, blogs and more" (OK!). Compiled by Dave Eggers and students from his San Francisco writing center, it is "both uproarious and illuminating" (Publishers Weekly).

Editorial Reviews

Review

"...zesty...a terrific hodgepodge of essays, satirical pieces, short fiction, lists and comics" --The Cleveland Plain Dealer

About the Author

Dave Eggers is the editor of McSweeney's and a cofounder of 826 National, a network of nonprofit writing and tutoring centers for youth, located in seven cities across the United States. He is the author of four books, including What Is the What and How We Are Hungry.

Product Details

• Paperback: 411 pages
• Publisher: Mariner Books; Original edition (October 8, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0547241607
• ISBN-13: 978-0547241609
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #436,743 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is the best of the "Best American" anthologies, October 30, 2009

By 

David M. Giltinan (San Francisco) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2009 (Paperback)

This year's volume confirms the status of this collection as my perennial favorite in the whole "Best American" series of anthologies. Whatever you might think of Dave Eggers, he redeems himself on an annual basis with this collection (this year, IMO, he has doubly redeemed himself, with the publication of the extraordinary "Zeitoun", but that's material for a whole 'nother review).

This collection is hard to sum up in a single sentence - one might think of it as an edgier - and more entertaining - version of the "Best American Essays". But a far better collection, because Eggers (and this year's guest editor, Marjane Satrapi) are savvy enough to cast a far broader net. So, for instance, in addition to standbys like "best craigslist ads", "best police blotter items", "best kids' letters to Obama", "best book titles published in 2008 (Baboon Metaphysics? Excrement in the late Middle Ages? anyone?), "best poem titles of 2008" (A Plea for the Cessation of Fruit Metaphors, I need more Cowbell, What your Dad's Underpants have to do with Space Travel, If my Life were a Radio, lately I would Prefer another Station, Why not Oysters?...), there are such fine contributions as Phillip Connors's "Diary of a Fire Lookout", Anne Gisleson's "Your exhausted Heart" (about the Saturn Bar in new Orleans), Denis Johnson's "Boomtown Iraq", Jonathan Franzen's tribute to David Foster Wallace, excellent pieces by Rivka Galchen, Rebekah Bliss, Eula Biss, and Susan Breen.

This partial list doesn't include the three or four charming picture essays, nor the five or six other equally good pieces by authors like Nick Flynn, David Grann and Amelia Kahaney.

I can do no better than to paraphrase what I wrote about the 2008 volume - this is writing that informs me about stuff that I would otherwise not encounter, brilliantly executed by authors whose worldview extends - praise the Lord - beyond their own navels. Like a bunch of exotically flavored Dove bars - unfamiliar at first, but reliably delicious. Material that takes you outside of your comfort zone, in the best possible way.

4.5 stars, which I think deserve to be rounded up to 5, because the percentage of dross in this collection is very low indeed. As always, if you find yourself in the bookstore, faced with the entire gamut of the "Best American XXX 2009" series, and you have only $14 to spend, there's no question about it - this is the one you should pick. (Or you could order it here on Amazon, of course)

I don't know what it is we have against Dave Eggers anyway. With this series alone, he has surely exonerated himself from any residual blame that might result from the youthful indiscretion that was - well, you know the one I'm talking about. That staggering book ...

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Expect the very best! As always!, October 15, 2009

By 

Roger D. Hall "The Postman" (Spartanburg SC) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2009 (Paperback)

If you're used to buying books and just skipping the introduction to get to the "meat" of the story then you're going to miss something. Even the introduction is great stuff with the "Best American" series. I realize that with the Nonrequired reader alot of folks are going to like some things and frown on others because it's designed NOT to bore. Me I like the whole thing.

This year I really liked "Diary of a fire lookout" by Connors. It starts out alot like Kerouac's "Desolation Angels" but you'd better read to the end. It's a heartbreaker. Connor runs across a baby deer with no mom.

Jonathan Franzen's piece about David Foster Wallace is appropriate and piercing. It's ok to miss someone and still be bitter for what they've taken away even if you understand why.

Missisipi drift is great. It's a modern day Huck Finn in a way but boy has the world changed. For that reason this is a must read story.

The comics are great too. If you think they're wasted pages I'm sorry, for me they're a nice break while still showcasing a poignant subject.

All of these stories are relevant and the subjects are recognizable but they are chosen to be a little off the beaten path. If you've ever been to amazon looking for something unique, you've read your books and every thing on the new release page looks dull then buy this one right now, you're going to read it at least twice.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars missing some of the "joy" from previous editions, December 6, 2009

By 

Cheese Hater - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2009 (Paperback)

Having loved previous editions of this book, I was a bit disappointed by the 2009 edition. After re-reading a few pieces in the 2008 and 2007 editions, I realized what the problem is: there's a certain amount of "joy" missing from the 2009 installment. Not just in the written pieces themselves, also in the introduction and the short bits at the beginning of the book. Maybe it's a literary reflection of the low-level depression everyone seems to be feeling these days, or possibly because Mr. Eggers is too busy with his other projects to write an entertaining foreword in which he gives us colorful descriptions of the high school students on the selection committee. Also, there are a couple of bizarre comics in the book that made no sense -- or at least, I didn't feel that they enriched my life or showed me something I'd never seen before. That's how I often felt reading previous editions of the book, and I just didn't get that this time around.