The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2010
An eclectic volume introduced by David Sedaris and compiled by Dave Eggers and students of his San Francisco writing center, who don’t leave a stone unturned in their search for nonrequired gems. Cover art by art by Maurice Sendak.
Search in google:
An eclectic volume introduced by David Sedaris and compiled by Dave Eggers and students of his San Francisco writing center, who don’t leave a stone unturned in their search for nonrequired gems. Cover art by art by Maurice Sendak.Publishers WeeklyDavid Sedaris's unflappable inventiveness translates, in the first section of this anthology, to a smattering of pieces with giddiness, daring, and heart. A particular highlight, by Wendy Molyneux, earned his award for "Best American Woman Comedy Piece Written by a Woman" and is guaranteed to set off snorts of delight with each re-read. In the second section, as in previous years, Eggers's picks prove solid and balanced, if expected. Rana Dasgupta's superb article, exploring India's new wealth and subsequent fallout, as well as David Rhode's profound and gripping account of his seven months as a Taliban hostage reflect not only the literary achievements of 2009, but also the horrors and complexities of these current times on. Meanwhile, Tea Obreht's "The Tiger's Wife" and Kurt Vonnegut's "The Nice Little People" embody the ageless miracles of surprise and originality that comprise the human imagination. (Oct.)
Editor's Note xi\ Introduction David Sedaris xv\ I\ Best American Woman Comedy Piece Written by a Woman: From therumpus.net Wendy Molyneux 3\ Best American Sentences on Page 50 of Books Published in 2009 5\ Best American Magazine Letters Section: From Newsweek Stephen Colbert 8\ Best American Fast-Food-Related Crimes 10\ Best American Gun Magazine Headlines 11\ Best American Six-Word Memoirs on Love and Heartbreak: From Six-Word Memoirs on Love and Heartbreak 13\ Best American New Patents: From United States Patent and Trademark Office 14\ Best American Tweets: From twitter.com 16\ Best American Letter to the Editor: From Bidoun 17\ Best American Overqualified Cover Letters: From Overqualified Joey Comeau 18\ Best American Fictional Character Names 22\ Best American 350-Word Story: From Orion Barry Lopez 23\ Best American Farm Names 24\ Best American First Lines of Poems Published in 2009 26\ Best American Journal Article Titles Published in 2009 28\ Best American Illustrated Missed Connections: From missedconnectionsny.blogspot.com Sophie Blackall 29\ Best American New Band Names 37\ Best American Lawsuits 38\ Best American Poems Written in the Last Decade or So by Soldiers and Citizens in Iraq and Afghanistan 40\ II\ War Dances: From War Dances Sherman Alexie 49\ Like I Was Jesus: From Harper's Magazine Rachel Aviv 75\ Burying Jeremy Green: From Shenandoah Nora Bonner 95\ The Carnival: From Mome Lilli Carré 104\ Capital Gains: From Granta Rana Dasgupta 137\ The Encirclement: From Granta Tamas Dobozy 165\ Man of Steel: From Ninth Letter Bryan Furuness 180\ Half Beat: From The Greensboro Review Elizabeth Gonzalez 198\ Gentlemen, Start Your Engines: From San Francisco Panorama Andrew Sean Greer 213\ Didier Lefèvre, and Frédéric Lemercier. The Photographer: From The Photographer, translated from French by Alexis Siegel Emmanuel Guibert 238\ What, of this Goldfish, Would You Wish?: From Tin House, translated from Hebrew by Nathan Englander Etgar Keret 262\ Fed to The Streets: From L.A. Weekly Courtney Moreno 268\ The Tiger's Wife: From The New Yorker Téa Obreht 287\ Breakdown: From Mome T. Ott 308\ Ideas: From The Paris Review, translated from Spanish by Mara Faye Lethem Patricio Pron 316\ Vanish: From Wired Evan Ratliff 323\ Seven Months, Ten Days in Captivity: From New York Times David Rohde 345\ Tent City, U. S. A.: From GQ George Saunders 395\ The Nice Little People: From Zoetrope: All-Story Kurt Vonnegut 431\ Freedom: From Boston Review Amy Waldman 439\ Contributors' Notes 456\ The Best American Nonrequired Reading Committee 463\ Notable Nonrequired Reading of 2009 472\ About 826 National 479
\ Publishers WeeklyDavid Sedaris's unflappable inventiveness translates, in the first section of this anthology, to a smattering of pieces with giddiness, daring, and heart. A particular highlight, by Wendy Molyneux, earned his award for "Best American Woman Comedy Piece Written by a Woman" and is guaranteed to set off snorts of delight with each re-read. In the second section, as in previous years, Eggers's picks prove solid and balanced, if expected. Rana Dasgupta's superb article, exploring India's new wealth and subsequent fallout, as well as David Rhode's profound and gripping account of his seven months as a Taliban hostage reflect not only the literary achievements of 2009, but also the horrors and complexities of these current times on. Meanwhile, Tea Obreht's "The Tiger's Wife" and Kurt Vonnegut's "The Nice Little People" embody the ageless miracles of surprise and originality that comprise the human imagination. (Oct.)\ \
