The Best American Essays 2005<\/i> edited by Susan Orlean (Series editor Robert Atwan)<\/p>\n
I have, at home, almost a complete set of The Best American Essays<\/i>, starting from 1986. I have only read about 20% of them.<\/p>\n
Since the editor changes every year, the number of essays that I find interesting in each vary considerably.<\/p>\n
I pulled 2005 of the shelf because I have read and enjoyed Susan Orlean’s essay collection The Bullfighter Checks Her Makeup<\/i>. Also, other authors in this one include David Sedaris, David Foster Wallace, Jonathan Franzen, and Ian Frazier.<\/p>\n
Sedaris has a witty and surprisingly touching essay about lancing a boil on his butt.<\/p>\n
Kitty Burns Florey has a nostalgic essay about diagramming sentences.<\/p>\n
Ian Frazier’s essay about memory or the lack thereof is a bit tiresome.<\/p>\n
Ellen Ullman has a disappointing essay promisingly titled “Dining with Robots” that ends with the line “Robots aren’t becoming us, I feared; we are becoming them.” What. Ever.<\/p>\n
David Foster Wallace delves into a lobster festival in the overly analyzing, wordily written, extensively annotated way that only he could. (RIP)<\/p>\n
I enjoyed Jonathan Franzen’s essay The Comfort Zone<\/i> about his obsession with Peanuts<\/i> against the backdrop of the 60’s. I find I appreciate Peanuts<\/i> more reading about it than actually reading it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Best American Essays 2005 edited by Susan Orlean (Series editor Robert Atwan) I have, at home, almost a complete set of The Best American Essays, starting from 1986. I have only read about 20% of them. Since the editor … Continue reading