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The Best American Essays 2010 (2010)

by Robert Atwan(Favorite Author)

3.71 of 5 Votes: 4

ISBN

0547394519 (ISBN13: 9780547394510)

languge

English

genre

Nonfiction

publisher

Mariner Books

review 1: here's the thing--what, exactly, is the BEST American Essay? or American Essays? Do I judge, as the edition does, from a rather limited, "well-established" base to republish published works, or ...from sources never dreamed of--i.e. editorials, Ebony, etc.? I was left feeling like I nibbled on sawdust with the numerous Brit/American lit references, the reflective Orwellian slants of "what he got right" (which I did enjoy) to "what he did not" (yes, with British references, again) to the interesting pondering of what does the removal of innocent trees have to do with promoting a more historic Gettysburg?I wonder if the 2014 collection will be brave enough to contain the police handling of race, the Bill Cosby scandal, the Republican hatred of all things Obama and...dare I ... moresay, Donald Trump's hair. Will there be an essay that deals with the continued Wall Street scandals, the lack of banks rewarding their constituents with a respectable percent (say 9 and up) for having savings accounts/checking instead of their shareholders and management, global warming...etc. I wonder.
review 2: I kind of love The Best American Essays. This particular iteration wasn't as strong as the 2011 edition. However, that's somewhat up to the proclivities of the guest editor, in this case, Christopher Hitchens. However, it's a collection worth reading. That said, let's take a look at the individual essays. 5 starThe Murder of Leo TolstoyIrreconcilable Dissonance (A short and lovely essay on divorce) The Elegant EyeballMy Genome, My SelfGuy Walks into a Bar Car (David Sedaris)Speaking in Tongues (Zadie Smith on Obama)Gyromancy (Vertigo and Picasso)lesser lightsThe Bad LionMe Myself and I (About Montaigne) Dimmer ThingsA Rake's Progress (re Marion Barry)Brooklyn the UnknowableRediscovering Central AsiaThe Dead BookLunching On OlympusOn John UpdikeGettysburg RegressDaredevil (about William Buckley)How Einstein divided america's JewsFatherlongA Fine Rage (about Orwell's politics) less

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