Book Description
Now in its twentieth year, this "consistently refined and lively series" (Booklist) still highlights "the best that the form can be" (Philadelphia Inquirer). Edited by the best-selling writer Susan Orlean, this year's collection highlights lively and provocative writing for these difficult times. Contributors include Roger Angell, Andrea Barrett, David Sedaris, Holly Welker, and others.
Customer Reviews:
weakest one yet.......2007-08-17
I read this series every year, and usually love it, but this edition is rather weak, and I'm surprised, I like and respect Susan Orlean's work, and I would have thought that she would pick better essays. Alas, it isn't so. There are no essays that are truly, truly exceptional. Some are quite good, like Franzen (no surprise there), Kitty Burns Florey, Danielle Ofri (again no surprise), and Shine. Most fall in the blah category. You could take them or leave them. They aren't bad, but they aren't all that good, and definitely should be in this volume. And then there are the clunkers, more than I'm used to seeing in this series (Angell, Barrett, Hoagland, Levy, Masello, States, Ullman, Wallace, and Welker).
22 satisfying servings of brain food (and 3 duds).......2006-06-18
Guest editor Susan Orlean has served up an anthology of essays that emphasizes intelligent, well-written, powerful works that leave an impression long after one finishes reading them. There is a definite New York / Northeast intelligentsia bias in her selections, and for some reason dogs and cooking appear repeatedly as subjects, but aside from these quirks I feel she has performed her job admirably, and created the strongest volume over the past four years of this series (which is how long I've been reading it).
There are more than a few memorable essays in this volume. The most memorable essay is also the most maddening, Mark Greif's "Against Exercise". One hopes that Greif wrote this essay as an intellectual exercise, similar to an assignment in a debating society in which one has to create winning arguments for a position that is directly opposite one's own beliefs. Greif's essay is entirely one-sided, and he does an incredible smear job against a practice (exercise) that would certainly benefit the country as a whole if more Americans did it regularly. I was almost compelled to write a rebuttal, but refrained from doing so on the hope that Greif was just kidding.
Memorable, well-written essays that were enjoyable as opposed to maddening included:
-- Roger Angell's "La Vie en Rose": a beautiful reminiscence of the author's taste of "the good life" among the elite in post-war Europe.
-- Paul Crenshaw's "Storm Country": a powerful first-person account of what it is like to live in Tornado Alley in Arkansas.
-- Jonathan Lethem's "Speak Hoyt-Schemerhorn": an engaging essay about, of all things, a subway station in Brooklyn, whose history mirrors the changing times of the city and society.
-- Oliver Sacks' "Speed": a detailed account of the nature of speed and time, and how it is perceived differently by different people, plants and animals.
-- David Foster Wallace's "Consider the Lobster": an account of the Maine Lobster festival that turns into an exposition of the author's moral struggles with consuming lobsters and meat.
The three duds, and the reasons I feel they are duds, are:
-- Michael Martone's "Contributor's Note": other authors may identify with Martone's neurosis, but this short essay is inconsequential and forgettable.
-- David Masello's "My Friend Lodovico": very narcissistic, although instead of staring into a mirror, the author stares into a painted portrait.
-- Sam Pickering's "Dog Days": self-indulgent navel gazing by an opinionated know-it-all.
Others will no doubt have a different list of hits and misses, but the 2005 Best American Essays contains much to nourish the mind.
Wonderful Essays!.......2006-02-01
Perfect book for vacation reading or for introducing others to what an essay can be. Wide variety of essay styles, and none of them call attention to themselves as actually being "essays."
Too journalistic.......2006-01-30
Robert Atwan is an absolutely marvelous editor of this series. But the guest editors, lately, are not literary enough--or rather their choices aren't. When you reread essays selected by Elizabeth Hardwick ('86) or Cynthia Ozick ('98), they hold up beautifully. I'm not sure Orlean's pieces are as timeless. It must be hard, after all these years, to keep finding distinguished new guest editors, so I certainly can't blame Atwan for turning to glossy article writers.
Indigestible mixture.......2006-01-23
I sympathize with the worthy aims of this compilation. It would be shame for such magnificent pieces of writing to remain ephemeral, never to be aired outside the pages of magazines. Yet the mixture is indigestible. I found it hard to read it through and shift my moods. It was like eating through a buffet table. Probably reading through it is the wrong way to do it. You should browse and pick on one that interests you, but that's exactly what you do at the newsstand or thumbing through a magazine, and that's where I'm afraid these belong. Two of the best essays for me were the Foreword and Introduction by Susan Orlean and Robert Atwan,which discuss the place of the essay in modern literature. The reason the they were the best was because they caught and held me at the moment where I was deciding whether to read a book of essays. That's the point I'm trying to make. Maybe I'll come back to David Foster Wallace's essay next time I'm deciding whether to eat lobster or to Paul Crenshaw's next time there's a tornado warning.
Meanwhile I'll keep up my subscriptions to the New York Times, The Times Literary Supplement, Asimov's and Antioch Review and pick up the Atlantic and New Yorker at Penn Station and I'll feel I've done my duty by the essay.
Book Description
Edited by the renowned novelist and travel writer Jamaica Kincaid, this year's collection reflects the wandering spirit and ever-present quest for adventure of the seasonedand not so seasonedtraveler. Contributors include Tom Bissell, Ian Frazier, Simon Winchester, Murad Kalam, and others.
Customer Reviews:
I Want My Money Back.......2006-12-01
I was very excited to get this book, because I was under the impression that I was going to get to read some amazing writing. Well, it must be so amazing that it's over my head, because I was bored to tears. "A Really Big Lunch" is probably the most boring story I have ever read. The author spends his entire article detailing a gigantic feast he indulges in down to the tiniest detail. Unless you're a foodie or gourmand, it would have been better as photography. "My Thai Girlfriends" is about an American lecher sitting around doing nothing in Thailand, and it only makes me sorry that Thailand had to suffer through the author's presence. The only funny and/or interesting story in the book is "Trying to Like India." I don't think I've ever laughed as hard as I did reading that one. But one story doesn't make up for the fact that the rest of the book is garbage. Skip this one.
Glad I'm not there.......2006-03-01
Travel has become so much easier that it has made travel writing harder. Travel writers used to feed the imagination by tales of exotic places the reader could only dream of seeing, reached after long and arduous journeys. Simon Winchester's piece about Ascension Island and Ben Ryder Howe on the Darien Gap are the closest to being in that old-fashioned genre in this book. These days we can jet to Timbuctu or Samarkand and stay at the Holiday Inn.
To make up for the lack of difficulty getting there, some places are so dangerous that accounts of them provide vicarious excitement. Madison Smart Bell in Haiti and Robert Young Felton on the NorthWest Frontier are in this category. A lesser degree of this is to make the destination sound so unpleasant that we feel good not being there. Seth Stevenson does this brilliantly about India. He should negotiate with the Indian Tourist Board to get bribed to keep quiet. Others to make you happy you stayed home are Peter Hessler (helping a sick child in China) and Murad Kalam on the Haj.
Another gimmick is to stretch the definition of "travel writing". William Blundell, Ian Frazier, William Least Heat Moon, Pam Houston and John McPhee do not leave the United States. Bucky McMahon doesn't get anywhere. Frazier describes a trip from Montclair, New Jersey to Weehawken, New Jersey. No doubt this will intrigue Montclair residents who want to know what Weehawken is like. McPhee is wonderful at explaining complicated technology, and that's what he mostly does in his long piece about barges in the Mid-West. I always find reading McPhee rather hard work.
What would be so bad about uplifting, humourous writing?.......2005-12-21
I'm sorry. I haven't even completed the book. And,in fact, I may not complete it. There's too much to read to subject myself to such negativity. So, the search for stories for this book was for "rare pieces that weren't 'aggressively positive'; or that 'underline my sense of my displacement.'
Give me a break!
This is travel writing! "A Walk in the Woods" still stands out as my all-time favorite piece of travel writing. Please don't misunderstand - I read copious amounts of non-fiction, and sadly, the majority of that writing isn't positive - it's more investigative, historical material or the author has an ax to grind - as in Al Franken's latest book.
But, what's wrong with picking up something to read that will provide a sense of joy or enlighenment? I don't care to read about how brutal Haiti's existence has been - I get quite enough of reality thru the Jim Lehrer Newshour.
Don't waste your money if you're hoping for something light - that's for sure.
Essays Highlight the Dark Underbelly of Travel.......2005-12-20
This year's editor Jamaica Kincaid has done an excellent job of choosing essays that, more than chronicle exotic journeys, speak about the perplexities of the human condition as her selections are often scabrous, sardonic, and emphasize the dangers and follies that roil beneath the surface of a travel itinerary. Here are some highlights:
1. "War Wounds" by Tom Bissell. A son and father, a Vietnam vet, travel through the father's war trajectory forty years later as Bissell explores what it means to be the son of a "war wounded" father.
2. "My Florida" by William E. Blundell. Famous for his book The Art of Feature Writing, Blundell has written my favorite essay in the collection. This is a gem of style, pungent, sarcastic, and wise. Blundell describes Florida as a place of grotesque indulgence for those geriatrics who decided to retire into a life of philistinism, tackiness, and decadence. A hilarious essay that would make Mark Twain proud.
3. "A Really Big Lunch" by Jim Harrison. Novelist Jim Harrison proves to also be a rather unapologetic gourmand who describes with hilarity his glutton quests with fellow sensualists. Almost as funny as "My Florida."
4. "My Kindergarten" by Peter Hessler. Set in rural China, this is a sad but inspiring essay about a peasant family struggling to overcome a mentally-handicapped family member and a child with a near deadly blood disease. Hessler shows how peasants, held in contempt, and urban citizens, given proper medical care, are treated differently by the government.
5. "My Thai Girlfriends" by Tom Ireland. An American living in Thailand, Ireland can't convince anyone that he is not a tomcat American embarking on a salacious quest in spite of his demure lifestyle.
6. "If It Doesn't Kill You First" by Murad Kalam. A recent convert to Islam and novelist, Kalam chronicles his pilgrimage to Mecca and shows his struggle to navigate through excruciating ritual, fanatics, and Muslims who, like him, are sincere but scared living in a post 9/11 world.
7. "Into the Land of Bin Laden" by Robert Young Pelton. The author shows how difficult it is to track Bin Laden in the no-man's land region of Taliban sympathizers and tribalists who afford great loyalty to the el Qaeda leader. He goes deep in the mountains of the Pakistan border and risks his life to tell his tale.
Book Description
Together these twenty-seven articles on a wide range of today's most current topics in science, from Oliver Sacks, James Gleick, Atul Gawande, and Natalie Angier, among others, represent the full spectrum of scientific writing, proving once again that "good science writing is evidently plentiful" (
Scientific American).
Customer Reviews:
Boondoggles, biosciences and . . . a blather.......2006-07-10
Today's science writing is growing more interesting and timely in its presentation. These annual collections are nearly always a delight to own. Each essay presents an issue demanding reflection and sometimes action on the reader's part. Lightman introduces this series with a brief overview of the progression of science writing over the years. He cites such classics as "The Silent Spring" and "The Double Helix" as examples. Stephen Gould's and David Quammen's columns paved the way for a wider audience for science writing, he notes. Enough production of this sort has led the way to a variety of styles, formats and topics. He presents just such a spectrum in this collection. With more than two dozen articles offered by an excellent array of authors, Lightman aptly demonstrates how far science writing has come.
With such a span, the reviewer has the choice of summarising them all [see "Synaptic mogul's fine synopsis, below], or selecting a few favoured examples. Given the range of topics and high quality of the writers, that's no easy chore. Choosing Oliver Sacks to begin the series was a wise choice. Sacks, always an expressive narrator, returns with an account of the "creation" of "new" elements. Another "regular" in this series, Natalie Angier, portrays the work of Jacquiline Barton. A woman of remarkable abilities and dedication to further research in the properties of DNA, Barton may well be making substantial changes in our understanding of "the molecule of life". Another biology specialist, Jennifer Ackerman, offers us a story of the quest to save one endangered species, the North American whooping crane. The method of preserving these magnificent birds may seem bizarre, but past efforts have fallen short of expectations. Ackerman's subject, crane biologist Richard Urbanek, leads a programme in which young cranes never encounter humans. This technique, he avers, will make transforming the chicks into their regular environment more natural, enhancing their chances for survival.
Although atomic physics, cosmology and recovering animals into their natural environments are always enticing reading, most of us remain concerned about human affairs. In dealing with our species and its many aspects, Lightman proves at his best and worst in assembling this collection. A campaign to eradicate polio in India, related by Atul Gawande, portrays the paucity of resources available to the medical workers. While expensive wars continue to impede progress by diverting resources, dedicated technicians strive to overcome the limitations imposed on them. In protecting public health, artificial issues such as "bioterrorism" have diverted attention from more immediate and pressing concerns. Philip Alcabes tots up the funds and personnel used in combating a minimal threat in contrast to the real problems of natural epidemics. He finds the Bush administration's focus a medical boondoggle. A new, more socially challenging topic has emerged in recent years. Some health issues, Robin Marantz Henig reports, may deserve focus on your "ethnic" origins. Certain afflictions appear to attack blacks more often or virulently, than whites. The first "ethnic medicines" are already on the market, with more to follow. Is this "racism" on the part of the pharmaceutical firms, or is it a valid market niche that should be followed by other drugs? And who will determine how they should be prescribed?
Inevitably, "American Science Writing" collections must deal with evolution by natural selection. Darwin's great insight is still subject to challenge in that nation. Lightman turns to one of the great nature writers, David Quammen, to provide a case for the defense [why Darwin needs "defending" is left unsaid]. Quammen, in one of the leading articles here, provides an excellent overview of how natural selection works. Quammen's style clarifies many aspects of evolution and is readable by anybody's standards. The only problem seems to be in bringing those who need to read the article to it.
Natural selection in the animal kingdom must raise the question of where humanity fits in the scheme. Many commentators have resisted the inclusion of our species in the process. In this collection, Lightman inexplicably inserts one of these objectors. David Berlinski's article on evolutionary psychology is less an example of "science writing" and more of an assault on a nascent science. His approach is formulaic by now - decry the lack of "hard evidence" on the roots of human behaviour. Since nearly everything in behavioural studies is by inference and comparison with other species, his complaint is groundless. Unless he's indirectly advocating detailed, controlled experiments on a wide segment of the human population, the chances of providing for his demands is close to nil. Berlinski, who must know of studies in sociobiology and palaeoanthropology, steadfastly ignores these indicators. Why Lightman felt the need for this kind of polemical blather remains a mystery. It can't be from a paucity of available material. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]
Stimulating addition to an outstanding series.......2006-03-22
I look forward every year to the annual edition of this series and its competitor, Best American Science and Nature Writing. Since there are way too many good magazines published I gave up long ago trying to keep up with them, and this book/series serves two useful functions. First, it provides a delightful sampler of science-related writing of the past year, and, second, it often introduces me to some new writers as well as familiar names. It is the kind of book that has repercussions: I have never failed to follow up by buying additional books, either books by the authors represented or books referred to in the selections (WARNING: This book could be dangerous to your budget!)
The series editor provides a certain stability and may ensure some breadth to the selections, but each volume bears the stam of the interests of the guest editor. Given Alan Lightman's literary bent, it was therefore not surprising to see someone like Diane Ackerman included.
This was probably not the best of the series, but it nonetheless was not one I would want to miss.
My Personal opinion of "The Best American Science Writing 2005".......2006-03-15
I am a scientist. U of Michigan. I am 61
I make synthetic gem and laser crystals for a living. I read many scientific journals weekly. I think this series of "The Best American Science Writing" is extremely good with always very up to date topics. An absolutely great selection of articles written by or about top people and topics each year. I use this series to help keep me up to date on everything scientific. I highly recommend the entire series.
A Source of Pleasure.......2006-03-07
Every year these little anthologies deliver a wealth of essays and articles. Whether they are "best" or not is in the eye of the reader, but nearly all of them are always more than worth reading, and some of them can change the way you see the world. Not bad for a few bucks.
Another Captivating Collection of Great Science Writing.......2006-01-26
Each year I am thrilled when this book comes out, along with its equally good competitor of the same format (Best of Science and Nature Writing, 2005). This year, my kids gave me one of each for Christmas. This book has 27 articles from 16 magazines. Without further ado, I will briefly summarize or provide a provocative quote from each essay for you. If at any time you feel inspired to quit reading this review in favor of the real thing, you will not be disappointed.
Introduction, by this year's editor, Alan Lightman, who made the final selections: "So far, not a shred of experimental evidence supports string theory. However, some of the best theoretical physicists in the world are infatuated with it."
Oliver Sacks: The story of how scientists have created new elements based on what could be predicted from the Periodic Chart of the Elements.
James Gleick: The grand new exhibition on Isaac Newton at the New York Public Library correctly portrays him as the genius of rationality and order that he was. His fingerprints mark every part of science, but they left out a major part of the story. Newton was heavily into alchemy and other pseudoscience, was a social disaster who had no friends, and was chronically poisoned by the mercury he experimented with. His works ended up being a pivotal event in the emergence of the age of science from centuries of dependence on superstition. His complex and tormented soul might represent the conflict between science and superstition.
Frank Wilczek: A discussion of Newton's second law of motion, F = ma. Force is "insubstantial" and has no independent meaning. For these reasons and that it has no algorith, Wilczek had problems with it as a student. He elaborates...a little over my head, but that's OK.
Peter Galison: As any pilot knows, the standard compass is problematic in aircraft because it leads and lags in turns, acceleration, and deceleration. Einstein addressed this problem as an expert witness because of technical skills he learned in the patent office.
William Broad: Reversal of the Earth's magnetic fields appears to have started in earnest about 150 years ago. The author discusses earth's long history of magnetic reversals and present implications for power grids, satellites, ozone holes, migratory animals, and extinction of species.
K.C. Cole: The only life we know is built on a scaffolding of carbon that floats in bags of water. As we search (SETI) for other life in the universe, why are carbon and water necessary - or are they?
Dennis Overby: Looking for planets: "What seems indisputably clear is that our knowledge of the universe is dwarfed by our ignorance."
Jim Holt: Some of the more fanciful speculations of top cosmologists about the eventual fate of the universe.
Natalie Algier: Women in top-level science are scarce - A close look at multiple award-winning chemist, Jacqueline Barton.
Jennifer Couzin: The competition and conflict between two prominent researchers studying the genetic causes of aging - in graduate school, one was the mentor of the other.
Robin Henig: Should we look for biological determinants of race. Sociologists say no, calling race a social convention, even its study causing a variety of pernicious consequences. Genomics and Medicine says yes, and a new drug, BiDil, has been niche-marketed specifically for African-Americans.
Mark Dowie: Dr. Stuart Newman applied for a patent for a "chimera" - half human, half something else. Not that he wanted to create one - the idea of a chimera so revolted him that he wanted to keep anyone else from doing it for 27 years. Six years later, it's still in court.
Gina Kolata: Some groups focus on cells taken from human embryos. Some focus on adult stem cells that have mysteriously survived long after their original mission is over. As the two lines of research proceed along parallel lines, researchers say it is too soon to bet on which, if either, will yield cures first. Meanwhile, the political problems over the use of human embryonic stem cells goes on.
Philip Alcabes: "The stranger spreading germs is a metaphor, and largely an empty one. Bioterrorism is not a public health problem, and will not become one."
Laurie Garrett: AIDS is poised to explode in Vietnam. US money is being held up because the Bush administration will not support condom use or a needle exchange program.
Atul Gawande: The WHO is in the closing stages of a campaign to wipe out polio. The author accompanies a WHO team to a poor region in India, where they try to limit the damage from a new outbreak.
Jerome Groopman: Can a positive attitude lead to a better outcome in fighting disease? Can the natural anxiety that accompanies cancer do the opposite? New information collected in scientifically valid ways suggests that the answer is in contradiction of the popular belief. "As to the mind-body connection, I told Julie that I knew of no data whatsoever that supported the notion that her natural feelings of anxiety or her moments of despair would accelerate the growth of her disease."
Ben Harder: Maggots still work in removing dead and infected tissue. While most US medical institutions don't use maggot debridement therapy, it is still a viable option for ulcers from bedsores, diabetes, trauma, burns, or flesh-eating bacteria.
Jennifer Ackerman: The author follows a group of "craniacs" who are trying to bring these remarkable species back from the edge of extinction.
Edward Hoagland: This author spent his childhood in a love affair with nature that has continued throughout his adult life. He now wonders whether humanity will survive current assaults on our environment.
David Quammen: Since about half of Americans doubt evolution, National Geographic magazine commissioned the author to compose a primer for the general public. The evidence is there, and it is not "just a theory."
David Berlinski: Although evolutionary psychology is convincing and is one of my favorite subjects, the author correctly points out how difficult it is to gather hard data on a soft science.
Mark Solms: By the 1980's, Freud's notions of the id and ego were considered hopelessly antiquated. New developments in brain research, however, are producing results that fit surprisingly well with his theories. Certainly it's becoming increasingly clear that a good deal of our mental activity is unconsciously motivated.
Ellen Ullman: The author caricaturizes the difficulties researchers have in creating artificial intelligence (AI) by pointing out the problems a robot would have in enjoying fine cuisine. In a moment of introspection - while in the supermarket check-out lines with its conveyor belts, credit card machines, and bar-codes - it occurred to her that we should perhaps worry more about humanity becoming robotic. This is the only article that was chosen for both books.
Andrea Barrett: This novelist was thrust into a situation of working independently, but alongside, various other scholars from varied disciplines. She was forced to think about how very differently scholars, on the one hand, and poets and novelists on the other, approach their material.
Diane Ackerman: "I remember one chilly morning in California, when a colleague and I held just-tagged monarch butterflies in our open mouths and warmed them with our breathe, so that they could fly to safety."
A delicious treat to read and a definite 5 stars.
Book Description
This year's editor, the Pulitzer Prizewinning author Jonathan Weiner, noted for his "philosophical and poetic mind" (New York Times), brings a new perspective to the year's best, most provocative writing on science and nature. Contributors include Sherwin B. Nuland, Malcolm Gladwell, Oliver Sacks, and others.
Customer Reviews:
a text book i won't try to re-sell.......2007-02-18
this book has alot of heavy science talk, but the lamen issues are easy to follow. the articles are most interesting, and after i read them i felt smart.
A focussed farrago.......2006-03-27
This collection of essays shifts from the usual scattered melange of topics in this series. Weiner has opted to focus rather more closely on selected areas. In this volume health and medicine gained much of the ink. Given the sources and market, the decision has merit. Certainly the issues discussed are worthy of close attention. The narrower topic approach hasn't allowed any slipshod writer to sneak in. All the articles command your attention - and are worthy of it. Well-written, informative and current, the selection is a treasure of quality.
Weiner opens the collection recalling his childhood fascination with atoms. He actually thought he saw some in a moment of dizziness. This "insight" leads him to note how physics and biology are gently merging through the growing field of molecular biology. Understanding genes means understanding molecular activities. More importantly, there are medical implications that we are only now beginning to understand. At the very root of our existence, organic molecules exist as both contributers and threats to life. Robert Kunzig's essay on deep sea sediments and other holdings of microscopic life show these places are also storehouses for methane. Once likely the dominant gas in our atmosphere, global warming may release floods of it again, compounding the "greenhouse effect". In a step up on the molecular complexity ladder, Sherwin Nuland discusses innovative "enhancement" technologies to improve appearance and prolong life. Various hormone "therapies" are already in use with more to come. Jenny Everett's essay on prompting children's growth using manufactured growth hormone struck a nerve with this reviewer. My son endured the daily injection programme for many years. And essays on stem cell research show how the research has become more political than scientific in the US.
In the US, space research is an on-going topic, but the loss of the Columbia during its return from orbit re-ignited the debate over manned versus robotic missions. In an unusually [for him] ascerbic essay, Timothy Ferris declares the use of astronauts costs far more than multiple robot spacecraft missions, and adds that threats to human life aren't worth the risk. The issue of "private enterprise" in space is examined, while the true aim of space exploration, providing an alternative home for our species is also discussed. One of the significant prompts for our emigration, climate change, is the topic of a book review essay by Bill McKibben.
There are pieces dealing with lighter issues, perhaps the most entertaining being the account of "The Homeless Hacker". Adrian Lamo made sport of the security walls of corporations, the military and the mighty New York Times - the Grey Hat invaded the Grey Lady. Lamo faced a prison sentence when the essay went to press. Clifford Stoll of "The Cuckoo's Egg", tracked down the history of the first "pocket calculator". Stoll's account seems almost humorous, until you discover how the calculator was designed. Finally, as nearly always appears in one of these collections, Natalie Angier lays down a challenge. Are scientists remaining unwarrantedly mute as religion challenges their foundations? It's a question fraught with wide-spread implications - from funding to whether schools will be able to continue producing highly qualified researchers. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]
Stimulating addition to an outstanding series.......2006-03-22
I look forward every year to the annual edition of this series and its competitor, Best American Science Writing. Since there are way too many good magazines published I gave up long ago trying to keep up with them, and this book/series serves two useful functions. First, it provides a delightful sampler of science-related writing of the past year, and, second, it often introduces me to some new writers. It is the kind of book that has repercussions: I have never failed to follow up by buying additional books, either books by the authors represented or books referred to in the selections (WARNING: This book could be dangerous to your budget!)
The series editor provides a certain stability and may ensure some breadth to the selections, but each volume bears the stamp of the interests of the guest editor. This year there were an unusual number of writers that I do not normally associate with science, such as Malcolm Gladwell, but the ideas were still stimulating. Dining with Robots was so much fun that I e-mailed a number of people the reference and provoked quite a discussion. That is the kind of writing I enjoy!
This was probably not the best of the series, but it nonetheless was not one I would want to miss.
a mixed bag .......2006-03-16
A mixed bag is good -- there's something for everyone. But I felt that there were too many "essays" and too many book reviews that I didn't think strictly belonged. Other pieces, though, were stellar.
Fair collection, but not enough meat.......2006-02-24
I've been reading these collections for the past few years. I felt that this collection concentrated too much on the political issues surrounding science for my tastes. I preferred earlier collections with more detail and content on both current science discoveries and historical context. While I do not disagree with the points of the essays, I didn't feel they added much to the debates at hand.
Book Description
Best-selling author Violet Blue searched the country and found the most stunning and brave sexual nonfiction writing of the year. Best Sex Writing 2005 includes pieces from more than 20 cutting-edge sex writers, including Michelle Tea, Carol Queen, Annalee Newitz, and Patrick Califia.
The author (Ultimate Guide to Fellatio, Ultimate Guide to Cunnlingus, Ultimate Guide to Sexual Fantasy) and erotica editor (Taboo, the Sweet Life series), Violet Blue turns her sights to nonfiction in Best Sex Writing 2005, first in a new series from Cleis Press. With Cleis’s trademark sharp, provocative editing and packaging, Best Sex Writing 2005 is destined to become an annual favorite. Best Sex Writing 2005 offers a swirling, multi-colored microcosm of American sexual practices and attitudes. Whether visiting a New York gay sex club, an L.A. escort agency, a Bronx sex ed. class, or a sex workers’ enclave south of the border, Violet Blue takes readers on a tour they won’t soon forget.
Customer Reviews:
Where the cutting edge of sex writing is.......2006-05-02
This book is hard to categorize, because it covers such a range of styles. I was blown away by the variety of it, and pleased that the writing is of exceedingly high quality throughout. Not every essay is for everyone, but it's overall an excellent book. I especially liked the confessions of a sperm bank teller and the article about sex at a sci-fi convention, and Patrick Califia's piece is as disturbing as it is thought-provoking and heartfelt. Challenging, creative, memorable and sexy writing.
Is this really the best sex writing there is?!.......2006-04-16
Ok, here's my big confession - I do a ton of reading about sex. This collection fell so far below most of what I've read in virtually every department - titilation factor zero, writing styles dull and unremarkable, insights into sex industry/sexual encounters almost nonexistant. The best piece by far is Patrick's Califa's and I would just recommend buying a book written entirely by him if you want to read something provacative & original. (Or something written entirely by Carol Queen, Susie Bright, etc.)This collection would only be appropriate for someone who is looking for a superficial account of some different facets of sex-related businesses, and to me the title "Best" suggests something beyond a sort of sex primer. At the risk of pissing off some of the many Violet Blue fans, bad editing is clearly to blame. By the way, the entirely uninspiring section by "Shirley Shave" (an alleged female porn star) has been subsequently revealed to be a James Freyish stunt. The person behind the pen name, a male fiction writer, came out as fabricating the entire blog from which the writing was taken. I hope that gives you some idea of the quality of this book's content.
Best Sex Writing is an Understatement.......2005-12-11
Often these collections of sexy short stories have maybe one or two decent pieces surrounded by dull, cliched rush-jobs that are about as exciting as cardboard.
Not so with this book. I read the entire book, cover-to-cover, in one sitting as each storie left me panting for more. My favorite story overall is "Dick Check" by Chris Ohnesorge. If you've ever wondered what it could be like working the door to an all-male sex club, "Dick Check" will definitely quench your curiosity. I also loved "Sex with Storm Troopers" by Annalee Newitz which provides some insight into the sexiness of sci-fi conventions and also "Hooker Booker" by K. St. Germaine. I had always wondered about the ins and outs of the call girl business...
Bottom line, buy this book. It's a steal at $10 and will be a staple in your erotica collection.
Looking for porn? Keep going. Looking to learn? Have a read........2005-09-30
I picked up this book after attending a reading by several of the authors. I could tell that this was less about erotica and more about the socialogy of sexuality. If you're looking for dirty stories, you probably won't enjoy this (but there are other books by/edited by Violet Blue that you may like better). But if you want some real insight into subjects ranging from visiting the Kinsey Institute, to working for an escort service as a client-booking agent, to trolling for Stormtroopers at a sci-fi/gaming con, then you need this book. My personal favorite stories were the ones by Carol Queen, Annalee Newitz, Chris Ohnesorge and Paul Festa.
academic interest.......2005-09-30
I found this interesting but only from an academic perspective. While the brain is supposed to be the biggest sex organ I found few of the stories did anything more than stimulate grey matter. Given the reviews and description of this work online, I expected hot and interesting. I sent it back because the copy I had was missing the last page of a story and like many of the other stories, I didn't care to know the end of anyway.
Book Description
In the magazine world, no recognition is more highly coveted or prestigious than a National Magazine Award. Annually, members of the American Society of Magazine Editors in association with the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism select the year's most dynamic, original, provocative, and influential magazine stories. The winning and finalist pieces in this anthology represent outstanding work by some of the most eminent writers in America as well as rising literary and journalistic talents.
This collection celebrates excellence in several genres: investigative reporting, features, profiles, criticism, and essays. The stories cover a variety of subjects from Seymour Hersh's investigation into abuse at Abu Ghraib prison and Samantha Power's account of the genocide in Darfur to Ned Zeman's remarkable portrait of Timothy Treadwell, the man who lived with grizzlies, and David Kamp's piece on the extraordinary collaboration between Rick Rubin and Johnny Cash. Other pieces include Chris Jones on life at the International Space Station, James McManus on stem-cell research, Adam Gopnik on Times Square, Jed Perl on the redesign of the Museum of Modern Art, David Quammen on disputes about evolution, and James Wolcott on the blogosphere.
Wide-ranging in their style and subjects, these pieces inform, surprise, entertain, and provide new perspectives on our world. They also reflect elements that distinguish the best in magazine writing: moral passion, investigative zeal, vivid characters and settings, persistent reporting, and artful writing.
Book Description
Mike Lupica, one of the best-known and most widely read sports columnists in the United States, assembles another extraordinary year of writing on sports. Offering fresh insight into the sporting world, The Best American Sports Writing 2005 continues the series" tradition as "an ongoing centerpiece for all sports collections" (Booklist). Contributors include Michael Lewis, Gary Smith, Bill Plaschke, Michael Bamberger, Pat Jordan, Michael Leahy, and others.
Customer Reviews:
Rewarding.......2006-04-12
This is a fabulous book. The reader will be rewarded again and again. Mike Lupica has done a worthy job as editor.
Let's face it, there is no shortage of good writing out there. Just like when we see a film, like it or not, the technical work is outstanding. The challenge for the editor is to create, using his selections, an introduction to the greater narratives that underlie the sensibility of the genre. Sports, in 2005, having never lost the ability to inspire, having those wonderful stories of determination, of grit, of overcoming odds, of personal victory are now also tales of despondency, of scandal, of defeat not just on a personal level, but also at the grander scale that we now experience this global world. So Lupica takes us on an emotional journey that captures as a snapshot the world we live in. The stories are the links in the chain. The chain as a whole, the journey as a whole, is wonderfully well thought out and perfectly executed. I cannot say enough about this book.
If you like this book, and this style of meta-narrative, please check out the 2004 Best American Travel Writing, edited by Pico Ayer. He carves out an incredible emotional journey, in alphabetical order!
Book Description
The Best American Political Writing 2005 is an annual compendium that culls from the nation's most influential news sources to provide the most incisive, controversial, and entertaining writing about the notable names and events of 2004 and the first half of 2005. From the 2004 presidential election to the reconstruction of Iraq; from Social Security reform to the future of the Supreme Court; from the war on terrorism and who is next to repairing American ties with Europe; editor Royce Flippin provides a diverse collection of insights, opinions, and analysis on the political events that shaped the past year.
With selections from leading publications, including the New York Times, the Washington Post, the New Yorker,the Nation, Foreign Affairs, Time, Harper's, Vanity Fair, and the Atlantic, as well as think tanks such as the American Enterprise Institute and the Brookings Institution. In addition, writings from the nation's top political commentators, including Ron Suskind, Peter Beinart, James Fallows, Joshua Green, Naomi Klein, Michael Wolff, Christopher Hitchens, and Philip Gourevitch, among many others, are also featured.
Book Description
Is it just me? From time to time we all scratch our heads and ask that question. With the world and our culture changing at dizzying speed, who doesn't sometimes feel like the only one left with common sense? Dick Feagler knows the feeling. Feagler has been in the business of telling Cleveland what he thinks for more than 35 years. For a generation, his sharply crafted common-sense commentary has challenged us, reassured us, inspired us, touched us, and made us laugh. And his words have often set the tone for so many daily conversations here. Lately those conversations have been edgier and more thought-provoking than ever. And (no coincidence) so have Feagler's columns. This book gathers selected columns that ran in the Plain Dealer since September 2001. The world has undergone monumental changes in that time, a period covering 9/11, the war in Iraq, and the increasingly vocal debate over gay rights. "My columns about these subjects caused much mail and resentment," Feagler writes. "Old-time fans who thought I was a lock-on, right-wing Republican were at first confused and then furious at my opinions. The lefties wrote to tell me they were glad I had at long last found salvation and come back to the fold." But Feagler would argue that he hasn't moved at all. The world has. As this volume shows, he continues to express common sense. It's just that he does so in a most uncommon way.
Books:
- The Brothers Karamazov
- The Celestine Prophecy
- The Chronicles of Narnia CD Box Set
- The City of Ember (The First Book of Ember)
- The Color Purple
- The Complete Wreck (A Series of Unfortunate Events, Books 1-13)
- The Count of Monte Cristo (Penguin Classics)
- The Federalist Papers (Signet Classics)
- The Grapes of Wrath (Centennial Edition)
- The Great War for Civilisation: The Conquest of the Middle East
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
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- Quest for the Tree Kangaroo: An Expedition to the Cloud Forest of New Guinea
- Hero on Horseback: The Story of Casimir Pulaski
- History: Fiction or Science
- Joni Mitchell: The Complete Poems and Lyrics
- The Black Belt Memory Jogger: A Pocket Guide for Six Sigma Success
- Once upon a Wilderness
- The Ultimate Anti-Career Guide: The Inner Path to Finding Your Work in the World
- Kompass Espana 2002
- Old Talk New Conversations: A Planning Guide for Seniors and Their Families
General
| Classics
| United States
| World Literature
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
The Best American Short Stories 2005 (The Best American Series)
The Best American Essays 2006 (Best American Essays)
The Best American Essays of the Century (The Best American Series)
The Best American Science & Nature Writing 2005 (Best American)
The Best American Travel Writing 2005 (The Best American Series)
