Books : The Best American Essays 2004 (The Best American Series)
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In association with Amazon.com
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from: Houghton Mifflin
List Price: $14.00Amazon.com's Price: $11.90 You Save: $2.10 (15%)Prices subject to change. Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 814.008
EAN: 9780618357093
ISBN: 0618357092
Label: Houghton Mifflin
Manufacturer: Houghton Mifflin
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 352
Publication Date: October 14, 2004
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Sales Rank: 341091
Studio: Houghton Mifflin
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Editorial Review:
Product Description:
Since its inception in 1915, the Best American series has become the premier annual showcase for the country's finest short fiction and nonfiction. For each volume, a series editor reads pieces from hundreds of periodicals, then selects between fifty and a hundred outstanding works. That selection is pared down to the twenty or so very best pieces by a guest editor who is widely recognized as a leading writer in his or her field. This unique system has helped make the Best American series the most respected -- and most popular -- of its kind. Here you will find another 'splendid array of unpredictable and delectable essays' (Booklist), chosen by the Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Louis Menand, another collection with 'delights on every page' (Dallas Morning News). The Best American Essays once again earns its place as the liveliest and leading annual of its kind.
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Great Essays, except for one or two.
After reading the book, the above comments are quite accurate. I would just like to point out, as it already has been, that the "my 80's" essay was included for purely personal reasons.
After reading excellent quality essays like "The last Americans" & "Passover in Baghdad" & to then get dragged through "On TV I saw Brideshead Revisited and the Patrice Chereau production of Wagner's Ring...and then "Sometime in the mid-'80s I stopped swallowing cum. I don't miss its taste". ... Read More
Rating:  - Obscure Chetkovich
Thank goodness this text was edited(?) by someone who has reflected on the Bible. Everyone in this book writes like a Steinbeck want-to-be. Catching my eye most drastically was the search result blurb from Google: "In this autobiographical essay, Chetkovich, an obscure short story writer, ..." I hope that is the correct spelling of the word "obscure." Does the use of the term "obscure short story writer" not actually mean "this writer is so bad arse, she MUST be read. Immediately! She MUST have ... Read More
Rating: - Good quality, poor customer service
The book is in excellent condition. It is of no use to me however. I did not recieve the book until almost a month after I ordered it. I had to use it for one of my classes,and I could not wait any longer for it to arrive, so had to go to the school bookstore and buy another copy of the book. When the copy i bought from the Amazon merchant arrived, I tried to return it, but I could not find a return address anywhere. I sent the merchant an e'mail asking for a return address four days ago, but ... Read More
Rating:  - 22 tasty, nourishing servings of brain food
"The Best American Short Stories" may be more popular, but "The Best American Essays" anthology is an even better choice for readers seeking the utmost in nourishment for the brain. The twenty-two selections chosen by Louis Menand, which cover a wide variety of topics, are all exceedingly well written, mind expanding, and, to a high degree, personal, in that they reveal something about the author as well as the subject matter. In spite of the two minor flaws of Menand's selections (discussed below), ... Read More
Rating: - Writing That Makes You Think
As a longtime fan of the Best American Series, I have a few suggestions for the editors: 1) Change "American" to "English Language" so that you can include the outstanding essays that appear in Canada, Australia, Great Britain, and beyond; and 2) Don't forget to consider the great essays that appear in online publications such as Slate.com and Salon.com.
In spite of these omissions, the 2004 issue of Best American Essays is excellent. The range is broad - these essays are all over the place, ... Read More
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