Customer Reviews

The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2009

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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 ...

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.

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.

For me, this is my first "Best of American..." collection. I could not put the book down!

For starters, the best of craigslist ads had me laughing out loud (at work of all places).

The first story that really caught my eye though was, The Diary of a Fire Lookout. When he keeps score between the fire lookouts and the "machines" it really opens your eyes to how wasteful we can be. The story offers a different perspective on the wilderness that makes you want to drop everything, move to a secluded cabin in the woods, and stay isolated for a month. Just for the experience.

I really liked this book because there are some pieces that you will remember months down the road. From How to Work a Locker Room, to Mississippi Drift, and The Outlaw Bride. These stories stood out because they illustrated lifestyles and a profession that you would not normally think about.

Overall, this collection allowed me to see certain situations from a different point of view. And that's what I consider good writing.

I've read several volumes from other Best American series - Essays, Short Stories, Science and Nature Writing. In each book, several pieces fascinated, puzzled, and/or amazed me long after I read them. This collection, sadly, is entirely unmemorable. Many of the stories, and this is overwhelmingly fiction, read as the work of imaginative but inexperienced college students. Clever, but unchallenging and forgotten as soon as the page is turned.

In short, I can highly recommend the Best American series as a whole, but do steer clear of this one. It's far from the best American non-required reading of 2009.

Dave Eggers is an incredible author, but both the 2008 and 2009 BANR have seemed (to me) underwhelming. Maybe it's because I've been on a big Ayn Rand and Kurt Vonnegut trip lately, but with each short story I fail to see the significance. Sure, there are plenty of lines that will make you go "hm!" but (and this is nothing but my opinion typed up on Amazon in an attempt to delay the beginning of a workday) at the end of each story I was left with a puzzled expression and a strong wondering as to why the author was so motivated to write the story, let alone why it was selected to be a part of this collection. Sure, I know, it takes guts to write, so I will say "no offense." It may just be that I'm unable to comprehend their (possibly) deep and significant messages.

Please don't be so impressionable as to take my opinion as anything more than it is.

This is a very interesting collections of stories. Some are silly lists, others are interesting stories that I would have never read had they not been in this collection. I purchased this book as a required textbook for an Adolescent Liturature course I am taking. As a textbook it is not bad.

I have still not stopped laughing at the cover art. While I am sure this ia a great collection, what the cover art suggests is actually happening is bizarre. All mom's should be this devoted to their daughters by sharing this classic information of Americana.