The Best American
Nonrequired Reading
Book Details
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.
Introduction by David Sedaris
Best American Woman Comedy Piece
from The Rumpus, Wendy Molyneux
Best American Sentences on Page 50
from Books Published in 2009
Best American Magazine Letters Section
from Newsweek, Stephen Colbert
Best American Fast-food-related Crimes
Best American Gun Magazine Headlines
Best American Six-word Memoirs About Love and Heartbreak
Best American New Patents
from United States Patent and Trademark Office
Best American Tweets
from www.twitter.com
Best American Letter to the Editor
from Bidoun
Best American Overqualified Cover Letters
from Overqualified
Best American Fictional Character Names
Best American 350-word Story
from Orion
Best American Farm Names
Best American First Lines of Poems Published in 2009
Best American Journal Article Titles
Best American Illustrated Missed Connections
from www.missedconnectionsny.blogspot.com
Best American New Band Names
Best American Lawsuits
Best American Poems Written in the Last Decade by Soldiers and
Citizens in Iraq and Afghanistan
War Dances
from War Dances
Like I Was Jesus
from Harper's Magazine
Burying Jeremy Green
from Shenandoah
The Carnival
from Mome
Capital Gains
from Granta
the Encirclement
from Granta
Man of Steel
from Ninth Letter
Half Beat
from The Greensboro Review
Gentlemen, Start Your Engines
from San Francisco Panorama
the photographer
from the photographer
what, of this goldfish, would you wish?
from Tin House, translated from Hebrew by Nathan Englander
Help Is On The Way
from La Weekly
the Tiger's Wife
from The New Yorker
Breakdown
from Mome
Ideas
from The Paris Review, translated from Spanish by Mara Faye Lethem
Vanish
from Wired
Seven Months, Ten Days In Captivity
from New York Times
Tent City, U.S.A.
from GQ
the Nice Little People
from Zoetrope: Al-Story
Freedom
from Boston Review
Other distinguished submissions on this topic, selected by the series editor.
A
Adam Mansbach
from The Speech.
Adin Bookbinder
from One Story.
Aimee Bender
from Tin House.
Aimee Levitt
from Riverfront Times.
Akhim Yuseff Cabey
from The Sun.
Aleksandar Hemon
from The New York Times.
Amy Bloom
from Granta.
Ander Monson
from The Normal School.
Anne Elizabeth Moore
from Annalemma.
Anne Gisleson
from Oxford American.
Anne Elizabeth Moore
from Annalemma.
Anthony Doerr
from Tin House.
Anthony Varallo
from Alaska Quarterly Review.
Archer Prewitt
from Mome.
Arthur Phillips
from The Believer.
Atul Gawande
from The New Yorker.
B
Bernardo Atxaga
from Threepenny Review.
Brian Mockenhaupt
from Esquire.
Bucky McMahon
from GQ.
C
Caron A. Levis
from Fence.
Christian Bauman
from Identity Theory.
Christina Yu
from New Letters.
Christopher Cook
from Columbia Journalism Review.
D
Dan Moreau
from Annalemma.
Dan Weikel
from The Los Angeles Times.
Danica Novgorodoff, James Ponsoldt, and Benjamin Percy
David Foster Wallace
from Tin House.
Desmond Tutu
Dimiter Kenarov
from Virginia Quarterly Review.
E
Ed Park
from Gigantic.
Ed Taylor
from Southwest Review.
Elizabeth McCracken
from Zeotrope: All-Story.
Emily Quinlan
from Green Mountains Review.
Eric Gabriel Lehman
from JonathanLethem.com.
Eva Marer
from Open City.
Evan Rehill
from American Short Fiction.
F
G
Gabrielle Bell
from Cecil and Jordan in New York
Gary Fincke
from Crazyhorse.
Gary Shteyngart
from Travel & Leisure.
Gene Yang
from The Eternal Smile.
George Saunders
from The New Yorker.
Gina Triplett
from Mother Jones.
H
I
Irakli Iosebashvili
from Guernica.
Ingrid Satelmajer
from Cutbank.
J
J. Malcolm Garcia
from Virginia Quarterly Review.
James Hannaham
from One Story.
Jefferson Hansen
from Africa, Big Bridge.
Jen McClanaghan
from Iowa Review.
Jennifer Egan
from The New Yorker.
John Garcia
from River Oak Review
John Janovy Jr.
from Isotope.
Jon Mooallem
from Harper's Magazine
Justin Heckert
from Men's Journal.
Justin Taylor
from Canteen.
K
Kachi Ozumba
from The Drawbridge.
Kari Volkmann-Carlsen
from Utne Reader.
L
Laura Park
from Mome.
Leslie Jamison
from Salt Hill.
Lili Wright
from Wag's Revue.
Lindy West
from The Stranger
Lori Ostlund
from Kenyon Review.
Lysley Tenorio
from Zeotrope: All-Story
Lucy Ferriss
from The Southern Review.
Luke Dittrich
from Virginia Quarterly Review.
M
Maira Kalman
from The New York Times.
Matthew Cooper
from Hayden's Ferry Review.
Maziar Bahari
from Newsweek.
Michelle Tea
from The Believer.
Mukoma Wa Ngugi
from Kenyon Review.
N
Nathan Thrall
from GQ.
Negar Azimi
from TBidoun.
Neil Swidey
from The Boston Globe.
Nicholson Baker
from The New Yorker.
Nina McConigley
from American Short Fiction.
Noah Eli Gordon
from Fence.
O
P
Paul La Farge
from The Believer.
Paul Rawlins
from Epoch.
Paul Reyes
from Virginia Quarterly Review.
Q
R
Ramona Ausubel
from Pax Americana
Randa Jarrar
from Five Chapters.
Ricardo Nuila
from Indiana Review.
Richard Powers
from The Paris Review .
Rivka Galchen
from Harper's Magazine.
Rolf Potts
from World Hum .
Ryan Boudinot
from We Are the Friction.
S
Salar Abdoh
from The Drawbridge.
Sara Gran and Megan Abbott
from The Believer.
Saša Staniši
from The Drawbridge.
Scott Raab
from Esquire.
Seth
Shann Ray
from Montana Quarterly.
Sheila Schwartz
from One Story.
Skip Hollandsworth
from Texas Monthly.
Stefan de la Garza
from Columbia Journal.
Stephanie Dickinson
from Green Mountains Review.
Stephen Elliot
from Make.
Stephen King
from Esquire.
Steve Macone
from The Christian Science Monitor.
Susumu Katsumata
from Red Snow.
T
T. Coraghessan Boyle
from Narrative Magazine.
Theo Ellsworth
Thomas Burke
from Tin House.
Tim Johnson
from New Letters.
Travis Klunick
from Greensboro Review.
Tricia Springstubb
from Iowa Review.
U
V
Valerie Vogrin
from Agni.
Vestal McIntyre
from Open City.
W
Wendell Berry
from The Threepenny Review.
William Hillyard
from Denver Voice.
William T. Vollmann
from Granta.
