The Best American Essays

The Best American Essays is a series of compiled works from various authors. For the most part, the title goes hand in hand with the quality of work represented here. One of the most intruiging articles represented in this book is Albert Goldbarth's Everyone's Nickname is Ace. At first glance, this peice has the ability to make the reader want to flip to a new piece. It appears very ambiguous to the first time viewer. It is a piece that requires undivided attention in order to understand it. It focuses on the philosophical concept of the dual personas reflected within one individual. He alludes to the idea that just as Ace double novels come equipped as two books in one, humans have the same characteristic. Goldbarth's writing and structuring of the piece is unique. It is interesting how this is true about human nature, yet it never crossed my mind until after reading Everyone's Nickname is Ace. It is like the artwork you can not seem to understand until after viewing it for an extended period of time. Although Goldbarth's excerpt is among one if the more difficult yet worthy reads in the book, there are also some articles that are simple to comprehend. For example, Lauren Slater's Tripp Lake. It is more like the journal entries that can be written by anyone. In this peice, she alludes to her summer at camp. The central message that she circles around is her negative realtionship with her mother. For some reason Lauren Slater dislikes her mother because she feels guilt for the way her mom's life turned out. This peice can be a striking at times because it really touches the reader and makes them gain a true understanding of the way the author is feeling. Overall, most of the stories found in The Best American Essay is well worth the money and the investment of time put into reading it. There will be some articles that are easy to read through such as Tripp Lake and others similar to Goldbarth that may be hassle. However, with a little patience and reverse outlining, understanding the key elements and ideas within Goldbarth's theory is a no brainier. Besides, if you can comprehend pieces such as Goldbarth, then you will be able to read through most other difficult texts.

Among the twenty-one essays in The Best American Essays by Adam Gopnik, there were some bad, some good and those in between. My personal favorite is tough to name. I quite skeptically read each essay, not knowing if I would actually consider what I was reading as among "The Best" of a given year. However, I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised. Essays such as Tripp Lake, Run Like Fire Once More and Cracking Open, were among my favorites. Although, there was something quite disturbing yet heartfelt about Cracking Open, the first essay featured. Patricia Brieschke talks of quite a grim tale in describing a bad relationship with mother, father and daughter triangle and a pretty messed up marriage to a man that she doesn't really love. Rent isn't paid and a baby is on the way, which hasn't been actually nourished the way an expecting mother should nourish her unborn child. There is tension, a bit of drugs and alcohol and baby born to dirty kitchen on some newspaper and a hip defect, which turns into a kidney problem and a slew of other issues. After several hospital visits to a hospital that closes and leaves parents uninformed as to their child's well being and some nasty comments from the narrator's parents who are unsupportive, the essay seems a bit dark and convoluted. Yet, when least expected, all things turn around and the entire essay takes a brighter approach as the sun begins to shine, the narrator is no longer a messed up figure, but a caring mother, her husband Matthew, the once alcoholic, drug addict is a reformed preschool teacher and Ollie our little helpless baby a bright eyed toddler ready to face the world, even if he is working on thirty percent of kidney function, and word has it Ollie's going to be a big brother as well. Oh, and rent is being paid. A major shift is portrayed from the opening line of the essay to the last line of the essay. Throughout the thirteen pages of the essay, the reader connects with the writer and grows with the characters and sees the light at the end of the tunnel or the sun rising when all is well and good on the front stoop by the end. I would highly recommend starting the book page one and working through each essay, there may be the need to skip a few, for instance Everybody's Nickname, however, there is a strong few essays which are worth the read. After reading Cracking Open, maybe skip towards the last half and read Run Like Fire Once More or Tripp Lake, you will be pleasantly engaged in either a spiritual run around Jamaica, Queens with the Guru, or you will enjoy a trip to camp and a final jump over the fence with Rain, leaving mom and all fears behind.

It was so long since reading a book of essays, I forgot what a treat they are. Each in this book is beautifully written. A broad range of topics are covered. Especially perfect for those who have only a short period of time in which to read.

Wow - I am stunned to see that the first five reviewers gave this volume only two stars, whereas I am awarding it five. Last year it was just the opposite: the most popular rating applied to the volume edited by the late David Foster Wallace was five stars, whereas I gave it two. I think this is more than coincidence. Last year's volume was heavy on grim politically charged essays, whereas this year's volume is void of politics and instead features essays on topics such as cameras, a road race, and dinosaurs. Guest editor Adam Gopnik no doubt has political viewpoints, but he took his job much more seriously than David Foster Wallace, and selected essays on the basis of their merits as work of literature. But this is just my opinion; perhaps all this proves is that, in art and literature, quality truly is subjective. Here are quick takes on the essays that I enjoyed the most: -- Jonathan Lethem's "The Ecstasy of Influence: A Plagiarism": an incredibly well-researched essay exploring the nature of originality in thought, plagiarism, and the way all creative thinkers build upon the works of others; it works on two levels, because Lethem himself openly steals almost all the thoughts in the essay from other sources (which are attributed), thus illustrating his main point. -- Patricia Brieschke's "Cracking Open": a touching first person essay about the challenges a poor young mother goes through after giving bearing a child with a serious birth defect. -- Bernard Cooper's "The Constant Gardener": another very touching first person essay, about a man tending to his sick partner and dealing with the physical and emotional issues of a terminal illness. There was just one complete miss in this volume, Jamal Mahjoub's "Salamanca", which didn't register any impression on me other than having taken up space in the book and my time in reading it. There were a few other essays that caused me to question their inclusion, but on balance, I found 2008's volume to be a return to the normal standards of this series, and a serious attempt by Adam Gopnik to assemble the year's best essays.