The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2012 (Best American R) [Paperback]

Dave Eggers (Editor)

Book Description

Release date: October 2, 2012 | Series: Best American R

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

Editorial Reviews

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

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: 432 pages
• Publisher: Mariner Books; 1 edition (October 2, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0547595964
• ISBN-13: 978-0547595962
• Product Dimensions: 5.4 x 1.1 x 8.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #227,764 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

52 of 58 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Uneven October 31, 2012

By Nick Dowling

Format:Paperback

I'm a big fan of this series, but this year's edition was a bit of a let down. Although the non-fiction articles were consistently good (with Jon Ronson's article on "Phoenix Jones" being the highlight), the other elements of the book were rather uneven.

While the 'Best American Front Section' which starts this series is normally entertaining, this year's was boring as it was dominated by material related to the occupy movement; I enjoyed the weird excerpts from the minutes of the General Assembly of Occupy Wall Street though. Some of the short stories were entertaining (particularly Judy Budnitz's 'Tin Man'), but most were over-written and failed to ring true ('The Street of the House of the Sun' by Michael Poore was particularly bad). The graphic short story on "Hortisculpture" was lengthy and dull, and I gave up on it half way though.

All up, while the high standard of the non-fiction articles and some of the short stories make this a worthwhile purchase, it hasn't maintained the excellent standard set by previous editions.

19 of 25 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book! November 24, 2012

By Longtime reader

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

What a wonderful, diverse collection of stories and snips. Really worth a read. The only issue I had was that the illustrative works and comics really could not be read on the kindle. The font was too small

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars A mixed bag March 11, 2013

By robert johnston

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

Compared to past editions, this one is a mixed bag. The inclusions this year are just not that entertaining. I have to wonder if my interests have changed or did the editorial selecting group change? I don’t know. The past renditions were 4-5 star. This one gets 3.