Synopses & Reviews
The Best American Series®
First, Best, and Best-Selling
The Best American series is the premier annual showcase for the country’s finest short fiction and nonfiction. Each volume’s series editor selects notable works from hundreds of magazines, journals, and websites. A special guest editor, a leading writer in the field, then chooses the best twenty or so pieces to publish. This unique system has made the Best American series the most respected — and most popular — of its kind.
The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2012 includes
Kevin Brockmeier, Judy Budnitz, Junot Díaz, Louise Erdrich,
Nora Krug, Julie Otsuka, Eric Puchner, George Saunders,
Adrian Tomine, Jess Walter, and others
Review
"A motley collection to match every mood a relentless reader might have." — Kirkus
"Thats the genius of the series. It eschews big names, big issues, and award winners in favor of stuff thats simply entertaining...Something for everyone, indeed. " — Booklist
Review
"...zesty...a terrific hodgepodge of essays, satirical pieces, short fiction, lists and comics" --The Cleveland Plain Dealer
Review
"
If you need to fall in love with reading again-or just want a reminder that high school students deserve a lot more than their reading lists give them-
then THE BEST AMERICAN NONREQUIRED READING 2012 is the book for you."
-Bust "As a devoted fan of this series (this is the 11th volume), I can report that this year's anthology of 32 selections might be the best yet."
-Elizabeth Taylor, Chicago Tribune “An eclectic annual that will leave readers marveling over many of the discoveries...category-defying... All readers will find their own favorites that justify the collection as a whole.”
-Kirkus Reviews "Lively, eclectic and surprising..."
-Minneapolis Star Tribune
Synopsis
A selection of the best writing, including fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and comics, published in American periodicals during during 2012 aimed at readers fifteen and up.
Synopsis
Dave Eggers and his students at the 826 Valencia and 826 Michigan writing labs compile fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and comics, as well as category-defying gems that have become one of the hallmarks of this lively collection.
Synopsis
A selection of the best writing, including fiction, nonfiction, poetry, comics, and blogs, published during 2009. Edited by Dave Eggers.
Synopsis
The Best American Series®
First, Best, and Best-Selling
The Best American series is the premier annual showcase for the countrys finest short fiction and nonfiction. For each volume, the very best pieces are selected by a leading writer in the field, making the Best American series the most respected—and most popular—of its kind.
The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2011 includes
Daniel Alarcón, Clare Beams, Sloane Crosley, Anthony Doerr, Neil Gaiman, Mohammed Hanif, Mac McClelland, Michael Paterniti, Olivier Schrauwen,
Gary Shteyngart, and others
Synopsis
This "great volume" highlights the "very best of this year's fiction, nonfiction, alternative comics, screenplys, blogs and more" (OK!). Compiled by Dave Eggers and students from his San Francisco writing center, it is "both uproarious and illuminating" (Publishers Weekly).
Synopsis
Bestselling author and rockstar of the comic world Neil Gaiman delivers a remarkable collection of the year's best graphic stories and comics.
Synopsis
The Best American Comics showcases the work of both established and up-and-coming contributors. Editor Neil Gaiman—one of the top writers in modern comics and the award-winning author of novels and childrens books—has culled the best stories from graphic novels, pamphlet comics, newspapers, magazines, mini-comics, and the Internet to create this cutting-edge collection. With entries from luminaries such as Tim Hensley, Michael Kupperman, and Dash Shaw, “its hard to flip through this book without finding a lot worth reading (and rereading)” (The Onion, A.V. Club).
Synopsis
An eclectic volume introduced by David Sedaris and compiled by Dave Eggers and students of his San Francisco writing center, who dont leave a stone unturned in their search for nonrequired gems. Cover art by art by Maurice Sendak.
About the Author
NEIL GAIMAN is the critically acclaimed and best-selling author of the novels American Gods, Anansi Boys , and Neverwhere. Gaiman was the creator/writer of cult DC Comics horror-weird series The Sandman, which won twenty-four Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, including the award for best writer four times, and three Harvey Awards. He is also the author of several children's books, including The Graveyard Book, winner of the 2009 Newbery Medal, and Coraline, an international bestseller that was turned into an animated film and released in 2009. Among his many awards are the Hugo, the Nebula, and the Bram Stoker Award. JESSICA ABEL is the author of the graphic novel La Perdida. MATT MADDEN is a cartoonist best known for his book 99 Ways to Tell a Story: Exercises in Style. Together, Abel and Madden are the authors of Mastering Comics and Drawing Words and Writing Pictures.MATT MADDEN is a cartoonist and the author of 99 Ways to Tell a Story: Exercises in Style. Together, they are the authors of Drawing Words & Writing Pictures.