- The Best American Essays 1987 (p. 315). Ticknor & Fields.
Monday, June 3, 2019
John Barth
JOHN BARTH is the author of The Floating Opera; The End of the Road; The Sot-Weed Factor; Giles Goat-Boy; Letters; Sabbatical: A Romance; Lost in the Fun House, a series of short fictions; The Friday Book: Essays and Other Nonfiction; and Chimera, a volume of novellas that won the National Book Award for fiction in 1973. He was elected in 1974 to both the National Book Award for fiction in 1973. He was elected in 1974 to both the National Institute of Arts and Letters and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and is currently the Alumni Centennial Professor of English and Creative Writings at Johns Hopkins University. His latest book is The Tidewater Tales: A Novel.
Wednesday, November 7, 2018
The Best American Crime Writing
The Best American Crime Writing is a discontinued series from HarperCollins, the world's second largest publisher - although the series' name sounds as if it's one of The Best American Series by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, but it is not (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt is the 8th largest publisher according to 2016 data). The series follows the same selection format as the Houghton Mifflin Harcourt's series, with series editors and guest editor in each volume. The series editors for The Best American Crime Writing were: Otto Penzler & Thomas H. Cook.
The series lasted 9 years, with changing its name in 2007 to The Best American Crime Reporting. But, sadly, the series lasted only 3 more years after its name change and discontinued with its last volume in 2010. The series is interesting because it features collection of real crime stories, so it's worth collecting for people who want a good record of notable crimes happened from 2002 to 2010.
The series lasted 9 years, with changing its name in 2007 to The Best American Crime Reporting. But, sadly, the series lasted only 3 more years after its name change and discontinued with its last volume in 2010. The series is interesting because it features collection of real crime stories, so it's worth collecting for people who want a good record of notable crimes happened from 2002 to 2010.
| Volume | Available Versions |
| 2002 | Hardcover, Paperback |
| 2003 | Hardcover, Paperback, Kindle |
| 2004 | Hardcover, Paperback |
| 2005 | Paperback, Kindle |
| 2006 | Paperback, Kindle |
| 2007 Name Changes to: The Best American Crime Reporting | Paperback, Kindle |
| 2008 | Paperback, Kindle |
| 2009 | Paperback, Kindle |
| 2010 | Paperback, Kindle |
The Best American Series
Ongoing the Best American Series
Discontinued the Best American Series
Series Title
|
First Issue
|
| The Best American Short Stories |
1915
|
The Best American Essays
|
1986
|
The Best American Sports Writing
|
1991
|
The Best American Mystery Stories
|
1997
|
The Best American Science and Nature Writing
|
2000
|
The Best American Travel Writing
|
2000
|
The Best American Comics
|
2006
|
The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy
|
2015
|
Discontinued the Best American Series
Series Title
|
Published Dates
|
| The Best American Recipes |
1999-2005
|
| The Best American Crime Writing |
2002-2010
|
The Best American Nonrequired Reading
|
2002-2019
|
| The Best American Spiritual Writing |
2004-2008
|
The Best American Infographics
|
2013-2016
|
Monday, August 13, 2018
Hardcover or Paperback?
For someone with extreme OCD with collecting books, a publisher's decision to make a hardcover version matters. And what matters even more is the publisher's decision to keep on making hardcover versions. But, sadly, for The Best American Essays Series, the publisher failed to stand strong its decision to publish hardcover versions. It can really break the series lover's heart - so take that to heart Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
And this post is dedicated to those who are collecting this collection, so you can stop going crazy trying to find the hardcover version of The Best American Essays 2009 and beyond. Enjoy.
And this post is dedicated to those who are collecting this collection, so you can stop going crazy trying to find the hardcover version of The Best American Essays 2009 and beyond. Enjoy.
| Volume | Available Versions |
| 1986 | Hardcover, Paperback |
| 1987 | Hardcover, Paperback |
| 1988 | Hardcover, Paperback |
| 1989 | Hardcover, Paperback |
| 1990 | Hardcover, Paperback |
| 1991 | Hardcover, Paperback |
| 1992 | Hardcover, Paperback |
| 1993 | Hardcover, Paperback |
| 1994 | Hardcover, Paperback |
| 1995 | Hardcover, Paperback |
| 1996 | Hardcover, Paperback |
| 1997 | Hardcover, Paperback |
| 1998 | Hardcover, Paperback |
| 1999 | Hardcover, Paperback |
| 2000 | Hardcover, Paperback |
| The Best American Essays of the Century | Hardcover, Paperback |
| 2001 | Hardcover, Paperback |
| 2002 | Hardcover, Paperback |
| 2003 | Hardcover, Paperback |
| 2004 | Hardcover, Paperback |
| 2005 | Hardcover, Paperback |
| 2006 | Hardcover, Paperback |
| 2007 | Hardcover, Paperback |
| 2008 | Hardcover, Paperback |
| 2009 | Paperback |
| 2010 | Paperback |
| 2011 | Paperback, Kindle |
| 2012 | Paperback, Kindle |
| 2013 | Paperback, Kindle |
| 2014 | Paperback, Kindle |
| 2015 | Paperback, Kindle |
| 2016 | Paperback, Kindle |
| 2017 | Paperback, Kindle |
| 2018 | Paperback, Kindle |
| 2019 | Paperback, Kindle |
| 2020 | Paperback, Kindle |
| 2021 | Paperback, Kindle |
| 2022 | Paperback, Audiobook |
Tuesday, July 25, 2017
Welcome to The Best American Essays
If I had to choose, my favorite genre of literature is literary essay. Literary essays are full of individual interpretations of life, and although they are short, tell a story, and most importantly, they're short.
Nowadays, people, including me, don't have the concentration and gluteal patience to sit down and finish a book, "a written or printed work consisting of pages glued or sewn together along one side and bound in covers". If the pages are numerous enough to be "glued or sewn," no thanks. Our millennial brains weren't trained to handle such monstrosity. If you want me to finish reading something, hand me just a few sheets of paper (single-sided), few enough to be able to be stapled with a cheap mini stapler I bought at Daiso. And are there literary works like that? Yes, Sir. The literary essays.
I was introduced to the genre of the literary essay in 2010, in English 315, The Literary Essay class, at Towson University in Maryland. Prior to that, I read and wrote works in that genre, but only known them as "nonfiction" or just "essays" (the boring version of essays of an unenlightened mind, now that the term essays feels more dear to me). The joy of reading and trying to write them was learned through two required books assigned by Professor Holly Sneeringer, The Art of the Personal Essay: An Anthology from the Classical Era to the Present and The Best American Essays 2009. The Anthology show me, wow, people from the past really got this genre down. And even though they were the stories from the past, they didn't feel old or ancient. Because even back then, life was life. And The Best American Essays show me, wow, even after 2,000 years since Seneca, there's still more to write about life.
As an essay reader and writer, I like The Best American Essays Series because if someone can say something is the best, they must have some confidence in what they publish, especially if they've been doing it for more than 30 years. As a writer who wants to be a published essayist someday, I wanted to learn from the best.
Now, welcome to this blog. If you read this far, you should know that this isn't a blog created by the Series' publisher Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. This blog is just my personal companion for reading The Best American Essays Series. It is a companion that helps me to organize things I find in the Series to help me answer some of the questions:
Also on this blog you will find book descriptions readily available from the back cover of each book, along with the table of contents containing the titles, the essayists, and the original publication where the essays were originally featured. And whenever possible, I try to put links to the actual essays if they are available for free on the original publishers' websites. And for some of the essays, sadly, you will find that the original publishers have went out of business.
Nowadays, people, including me, don't have the concentration and gluteal patience to sit down and finish a book, "a written or printed work consisting of pages glued or sewn together along one side and bound in covers". If the pages are numerous enough to be "glued or sewn," no thanks. Our millennial brains weren't trained to handle such monstrosity. If you want me to finish reading something, hand me just a few sheets of paper (single-sided), few enough to be able to be stapled with a cheap mini stapler I bought at Daiso. And are there literary works like that? Yes, Sir. The literary essays.
I was introduced to the genre of the literary essay in 2010, in English 315, The Literary Essay class, at Towson University in Maryland. Prior to that, I read and wrote works in that genre, but only known them as "nonfiction" or just "essays" (the boring version of essays of an unenlightened mind, now that the term essays feels more dear to me). The joy of reading and trying to write them was learned through two required books assigned by Professor Holly Sneeringer, The Art of the Personal Essay: An Anthology from the Classical Era to the Present and The Best American Essays 2009. The Anthology show me, wow, people from the past really got this genre down. And even though they were the stories from the past, they didn't feel old or ancient. Because even back then, life was life. And The Best American Essays show me, wow, even after 2,000 years since Seneca, there's still more to write about life.
As an essay reader and writer, I like The Best American Essays Series because if someone can say something is the best, they must have some confidence in what they publish, especially if they've been doing it for more than 30 years. As a writer who wants to be a published essayist someday, I wanted to learn from the best.
Now, welcome to this blog. If you read this far, you should know that this isn't a blog created by the Series' publisher Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. This blog is just my personal companion for reading The Best American Essays Series. It is a companion that helps me to organize things I find in the Series to help me answer some of the questions:
- How does the publisher describe the featured writers? What accomplishments are highlighted, such as some of the awards they received?
- What is the publication that published the most essays selected for the Series?
- Who is the essayist selected the most in the Series?
- If a writer was featured on the series more than one time, how did that author's biography change over the years?
Also on this blog you will find book descriptions readily available from the back cover of each book, along with the table of contents containing the titles, the essayists, and the original publication where the essays were originally featured. And whenever possible, I try to put links to the actual essays if they are available for free on the original publishers' websites. And for some of the essays, sadly, you will find that the original publishers have went out of business.
My goal, eventually, is to write a response essay to every essay featured on the series. Because you never know, someone may be dreading reading these essays late at night, just because they are assigned to read them by his/her professor. And if I can help ease the burden of completing an assignment, he/she may be freed to experience the joy of reading essays as I did.
I hope you enjoy this blog for what it has to offer, and I hope you fully enjoy the art of literary essays.
But until then, read an essay today. Essays will turn your life's happenings to meanings.
I hope you enjoy this blog for what it has to offer, and I hope you fully enjoy the art of literary essays.
But until then, read an essay today. Essays will turn your life's happenings to meanings.
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