The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2009 |  | Creator: Dave Eggers
Publisher: Mariner Books
List Price: $14.00
Buy New: $8.40
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Rating:  2 reviews
Sales Rank: 3144
Media: Paperback
Pages: 432
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 8.1 x 5.5 x 1.1
ISBN: 0547241607
Dewey Decimal Number: 810
EAN: 9780547241609
ASIN: 0547241607
Publication Date: October 8, 2009
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
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).
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| Customer Reviews:
This is the best of the "Best American" anthologies October 30, 2009
David M. Giltinan (San Francisco)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
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 ...
Expect the very best! As always! October 15, 2009
Roger D. Hall (Spartanburg SC)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
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.
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