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The Best American Nonrequired Reading (2012)

by Dave Eggers(Favorite Author)

3.85 of 5 Votes: 4

ISBN

0547840527 (ISBN13: 9780547840529)

languge

English

genre

Humor

publisher

Mariner Books

review 1: A few years ago I stopped reading this series because I had reached a point in my life where I was tired of reading so damn much. The stories of that year's BANR didn't interest me at all but I attribute it to my jaded attitude towards reading. I just picked this up and didn't think I would be as excited as it made me feel. I understand that some people feel like this edition was much more serious than others. Which it was. But the stories, articles and other works all brought together, regardless of their tone, a deeply American experience which I thought was beautiful seeing that they were all very different from one another. I am grateful for the chance to be able to see such diverse voices within a single book.
review 2: This is my first time reading one of... more the "Nonrequired Reading" series, and it's worth getting just because of its editorial apparatus (Dave Eggers helping high school students become super involved in a big-time literary project). This particular edition is also worth getting just for Wesley Yang's "Paper Tigers." I've read that essay three times now and every time I'm blown away by the writer's voice, courage, courage, and did I mention courage. Reading that essay is a visceral experience - watch on the edge of your seat as a writer puts everything in his life on the line for the sole purpose of being to write the essay itself. It's unforgettable. And much appreciated. Wesley Yang, if you ever read this, thank you for all of your sacrifices for that essay, for not being afraid to give a raw, non-simplified account of why you chose to be an artist when American culture, and especially Asian-American culture, begs us to take a safer, more regimented path. I think so many writers out there - of all races - will be braver in their work because of this essay.Speaking of sacrifices, Phil Klay's "Redeployment" is another work of hair-on-end genius. And the "Best American Manifesto" - a transcript of the meetings held during Occupy Wallstreet - is a true treasure of American culture - the good, the bad, the ridiculous drumming. less

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