List Price: $14.95 Details

Save: $4.56 (31%)

Get Fast, Free Shipping with Amazon Prime FREE Returns

FREE delivery Thursday, December 22 if you spend $25 on items shipped by Amazon. Order within 9 hrs 59 mins

Arrives before Christmas

Select delivery location

In Stock.

As an alternative, the Kindle eBook is available now and can be read on any device with the free Kindle app.

[{"displayPrice":"$10.39","priceAmount":10.39,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"10","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"39","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"5zMHPwnfmU4wJ8Fini5R%2F%2ByJYIETCn1IY5xrgnLUqd6gMzYn0tHJT9%2BgWGJd5iPLBKw%2FxzV3gOAbKfZQiEz7q76zgURoixIBDeWKGRX%2BizImR%2FsuqSMG4De8VX1cZ4b7em3BXFm6SUEU1WBn3XN1ZA%3D%3D","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"NEW"},{"displayPrice":"$7.93","priceAmount":7.93,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"7","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"93","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"w%2FULVa2Tv%2FQD0jLg9MHhzYS51SuAxVoBVBXHRP5nMhOHROiep0bascgEJYxv7KbvGIWDUbgAnSoQ7RTiOLEdd3iHFd%2BbDzLa%2BOvY22ITH%2FPY2mEub6xJgEMgO1J1vcBlJ8PcfsvTBx5QLF%2Bx0ktlTRFCn1dMGD3XcX3qFqkUGrw061GUS3jRDee5msUllfZe","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"USED"}]

$$10.39 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details

Secure transaction

Ships from

Amazon.com

Sold by

Amazon.com

Details

Ships from

Amazon.com

Sold by

Amazon.com

Return policy: Returnable until Jan 31, 2023

Add a gift receipt for easy returns

Get Fast, Free Shipping with Amazon Prime

FREE delivery Wednesday, December 28 if you spend $25 on items shipped by Amazon

Arrives after Christmas. Need a gift sooner? Send an Amazon Gift Card instantly by email or SMS.

Select delivery location

Used: Good | Details

Sold by Jenson Books Inc

Fulfilled by Amazon

Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items.

Have one to sell?

Sell on Amazon

Other Sellers on Amazon

Added

Not added

$5.58
+ $4.55 shipping

Sold by: Pen & Parchment Media

Added

Not added

$7.39
+ $3.98 shipping

Sold by: Wildcat Media

Added

Not added

$7.18
+ $4.99 shipping

Sold by: EKER Books

Flip to back Flip to front

Listen Playing... Paused You're listening to a sample of the Audible audio edition.
Learn more

See this image

Follow the Authors

Jonathan Franzen

Irina Dumitrescu

The Best American Essays 2016 Paperback – October 4, 2016

by Robert Atwan (Author)

95 ratings

3.8 on Goodreads

548 ratings

Part of: The Best American: Essays (11 books)

See all formats and editions

Price

New from

Used from

Kindle

"Please retry"

$9.87

—

Paperback

"Please retry"

$10.39

$5.58

$1.24

Enhance your purchase

A true essay is “something hazarded, not definitive, not authoritative; something ventured on the basis of the author’s personal experience and subjectivity,” writes guest editor Jonathan Franzen in his introduction. However, his main criterion for selecting The Best American Essays 2016 was, in a word, risk. Whether the risks involved championing an unpopular opinion, the possibility of ruining a professional career, or irrevocably offending family, for Franzen, “the writer has to be like the firefighter, whose job, while everyone else is fleeing the flames, is to run straight into them.”

The Best American Essays 2016 includes ALEXANDER CHEE, PAUL CRENSHAW, JAQUIRA DÍAZ, LAURA KIPNIS, AMITAVA KUMAR, SEBASTIAN JUNGER,
JOYCE CAROL OATES, OLIVER SACKS, THOMAS CHATTERTON WILLIAMS and others

JONATHAN FRANZEN, guest editor, is the author of five novels, most recently Purity, and five works of nonfiction and translation, including Farther Away and The Kraus Project. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the German Akademie der Künste, and the French Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.

ROBERT ATWAN, the series editor of The Best American Essays since its inception in 1986, has published on a wide variety of subjects, from American advertising and early photography to ancient divination and Shakespeare. His criticism, essays, humor, poetry, and fiction have appeared in numerous periodicals nationwide.

Part of series

The Best American: Essays
Print length

352 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Mariner Books
Publication date

October 4, 2016
Dimensions

5.5 x 0.88 x 8.25 inches
ISBN-10

0544812107
ISBN-13

978-0544812109
See all details

Frequently bought together

+
+

Total price:

To see our price, add these items to your cart.

Choose items to buy together.

by Robert Atwan Paperback
$10.39
In Stock.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
Get it as soon as Thursday, Dec 22
by Robert Atwan Paperback
$8.19
In Stock.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
Get it as soon as Thursday, Dec 29
by Leslie Jamison Paperback
$9.29
In Stock.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
Get it as soon as Friday, Dec 23

Kathryn Schulz
141
Paperback
60 offers from $4.15
Robert Atwan
210
Paperback
81 offers from $1.29
Robert Atwan
111
Paperback
90 offers from $1.16
Leslie Jamison
118
Paperback
96 offers from $1.24
Jonathan Franzen
2,772
Hardcover
Editors' pickBest Literature & Fiction
281 offers from $1.37
Alexander Chee
16
Paperback
25 offers from $11.71

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

The Best American Series®

A true essay is “something hazarded, not definitive, not authoritative; something ventured on the basis of the author’s personal experience and subjectivity,” writes guest editor Jonathan Franzen in his introduction. However, his main criterion for selecting The Best American Essays 2016 was, in a word, risk. Whether the risks involved championing an unpopular opinion, the possibility of ruining a professional career, or irrevocably offending family, for Franzen, “the writer has to be like the firefighter, whose job, while everyone else is fleeing the flames, is to run straight into them.”
The Best American Essays 2016 includes
ALEXANDER CHEE, PAUL CRENSHAW, JAQUIRA DÍAZ,
LAURA KIPNIS, AMITAVA KUMAR, SEBASTIAN JUNGER,
JOYCE CAROL OATES, OLIVER SACKS, THOMAS CHATTERTON WILLIAMS
and others
JONATHAN FRANZEN, guest editor, is the author of five novels, most recently Purity, and five works of nonfiction and translation, including Farther Away and The Kraus Project. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the German Akademie der Künste, and the French Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.

ROBERT ATWAN, the series editor of The Best American Essays since its inception in 1986, has published on a wide variety of subjects, from American advertising and early photography to ancient divination and Shakespeare. His criticism, essays, humor, poetry, and fiction have appeared in numerous periodicals nationwide.

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.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Mariner Books; 2016th edition (October 4, 2016)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 352 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0544812107
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0544812109
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 10.4 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 0.88 x 8.25 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #769,602 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #965 in American Fiction Anthologies
- #1,370 in Mystery Anthologies (Books)
- #2,608 in Essays (Books)

Customer Reviews:
95 ratings

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Videos

Help others learn more about this product by uploading a video!

Upload your video

About the authors

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.

Jonathan Franzen
Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.
Jonathan Franzen is the author of five novels--Purity, Freedom, The Corrections, The Twenty-Seventh City, and Strong Motion--and five works of nonfiction and translation, including Farther Away, How to Be Alone, and The Discomfort Zone, all published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the German Akademie der Kunste, and the French Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.
See more on the author's page
Irina Dumitrescu
Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.
Irina Dumitrescu teaches medieval literature at the University of Bonn, and writes about literature, food, immigration, and dance.
Dumitrescu is the editor of Rumba Under Fire: The Arts of Survival from West Point to Delhi, a collection of essays and poems on the humanities in times of crisis. Her essays have appeared in the New York Times, the Times Literary Supplement, the Atlantic, Longreads, Politico Europe, Yale Review, Southwest Review, Petits Propos Culinaires, Zócalo Public Square, and the Washington Post.
Her work has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and the James Beard Foundation’s MFK Fisher Distinguished Writing Award, has received the McGinnis-Ritchie Award for nonfiction, and been reprinted in Best American Essays 2016 and Best Food Writing 2017.
See more on the author's page

Customer reviews

5 star		58%
4 star		17%
3 star		10%
2 star		11%
1 star		4%

How customer reviews and ratings work

Reviews with images

See all customer images

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Marlene F. McGunigle

we have been assigned to read the Best American Essays

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on September 25, 2017

Verified Purchase

For my English class this year, we have been assigned to read the Best American Essays. So far we have only Bajadas by, Francisco Cantu. I was intrigued by the tone of Cantu's essay. The style of Cantus writing is intriguing as he captures the reader in his journal entries about being a boarder patrol officer. The reader embarks on the journey with Cantu as he learns what his job truly entails. The reader gets an inside look at what it takes to do his job and how it affects his mindset each day. After reading this essay the reader is left with an abundance of questions and the vehicle my class used to answer these was through an open discussion on what we had read. One of the more interesting questions to explore is how his tone and dialect affects his story. The tone adapts throughout the essay as Cantu transforms from an inexperienced officer to a more mature and wise officer by the end of the entries. Cantu fights with himself over the idea of whether or not he is helping or hurting as he develops a connection with the people that he must deport. Cantus writing was very unique and I have never read anything prior that was written in this unique style. Although I have only read the first essay so far, I am very curious to continue to read captivating essays such as Cantu's as I make my way through the rest of the book.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Mina

This first essay has no definite purpose but will definitely help readers open up a part of themselves that isn't easy. I wonder what other readers thought of the ...

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on September 25, 2017

Verified Purchase

I have only read the first essay, Bajadas by Francisco Cantú, in this collection but I have to say that I am swept off of my feet. Although it was for an AP Language and Composition class assignment, I had several deep connections with the author and the essay was heartfelt. Even in the essay form, which might pose the readers some assumptions, Cantú delivered his raw internal conflicts with his morality and emotions dealing with his job as a border patrol in a stylish way. This first essay has no definite purpose but will definitely help readers open up a part of themselves that isn't easy. I wonder what other readers thought of the first essay? Did you make such deep connections with the author? I am excited to read further essays, and hear about others' opinions.

2 people found this helpful

Helpful

John Sullivan

I thought it was fantastic! I'm a woman curious about etiquette and I ...

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on October 26, 2016

Verified Purchase

I just read the essay, Sexual Paranoia. I thought it was fantastic! I'm a woman curious about etiquette and I didn't know any other women agreed with me: Woman use your voice boxes and say the word No if it applies! If Clinton "raped" you then don't stalk him at his fundraiser the next week....And on and on. Although some people in power are a little or a lot creepy and can be just oblivious or even cruel it must be said, profs are usually relatively mild-mannered, I agree! Let's not alienate women's natural allies, I hope.

2 people found this helpful

Helpful

Seven Kitties

... books are always more about the editor than the best writing, I've found

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on October 21, 2016

Verified Purchase

These books are always more about the editor than the best writing, I've found. They can be amazingly strong, as was last year's, or truly bad (one a few years ago was just incessant essays about death). This is...in the middle.

Many of the essays seem to be faux-edgy ('lookit me using the f-bomb!!' *yawn*) and the ones that are obviously chosen to push the social justice agenda (disclaimer: I am pro-social justice but anti-shoving-stuff-down-my-throat) are plagued with weak writing. Last year's had a number of essays about race which managed to also combine lyrical writing, fascinating structure--things that made them best ESSAYS and not best polemics.

Most of the writing, to be honest, was disappointingly weak. If these truly are the best essays that America produced in the last year, we're in trouble. I expect beautiful writing in these collections, such as Solnit or Purpura or even Dillard. I expect meditative writing, deep dives on insight and thought, and a valuation of language. Instead, this collection veers to the confessional, the sloppy confessional, without the art or lyricism in words. "Thin Places" is possibly the best example of this--something with great potential, but gets mired in the author's soppy wrangling.

There are a few decent essays, with those limitations. As always, Sacks's essay stands out as exactly what I want in these collections...but here it serves the point as showing how deficient the others are. Kipnis's "Sexual Paranoia" was fascinating to me, as an educator (who, frankly, always felt that sort of dating to be repugnant), but I'm not sure if I were not invested in education, if I'd have liked it quite as much. Similarly, Junger's essay--a nice study of PTSD, but it gets a little too preachy toward the end.

I guess it's a good record of 2016, where we do seem invested in preaching and telling people what to do, rather than inviting them to think. Let's hope 2017 is better.

39 people found this helpful

Helpful

Lorena Cassady

An Inspiring Tour of the Modern Essay -- Not what you think!

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 10, 2017

Verified Purchase

The introduction by Jonathan Franzen was worth the price of the book, and his essay selections were among the best I've seen in this series..It's much more open and creative than I believed it was, and wiped the dust off the form as I had known it in my school days!

Helpful

J48

This was a gift to my husband. I buy ...

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on December 31, 2016

Verified Purchase

This was a gift to my husband. I buy the current year's essays for him for Christmas each year. He may not always agree with all of them, but feels they are thoughtful and always give him another point of view to consider. Over all, he highly recommends them.

3 people found this helpful

Helpful

Jac

Many and various.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on March 16, 2017

Verified Purchase

While I generally gravitate to 1940-present SciFi when looking for short works of fiction this proved an interesting diversion. While I certainly did not like every work included here...in fact found several appalling and a few others mundane...I did also thoroughly enjoy several enough to recommend the journey.

Helpful

Evil Overlord

Placing BAE on probation

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on May 29, 2017

Verified Purchase

I use Best American every year as a text for my English composition courses. The essays tend to engage my students more than having to suffer the vile drudgery of a textbook. Unfortunately, this year's selection of essays in Best American Essays is subpar. Lyricism, catharsis, depth--all these have gone out the window this year. Of course, this is what happens when the essays are selected with more of a social/political agenda in mind and less on the quality and power of the words. There's an especially gratuitous amount of vulgarity and morbidity this year. But the collection holds a few gold nuggets, however, and I shall foist those upon my students and hope for the best.

4 people found this helpful

Helpful