swoody788's review
2.0
Glad to be done with this wretched book. The writing is great, yes, but the content was too disturbing and/or depressing for my tastes. I kept reading, hoping for at least one uplifting, feel-good tale, but it never came (except for maybe The Blind Faith of the One-Eyed Matador, and even that wasn't enough to redeem the book although it did lead me to some spectacularly gruesome YouTube videos of bullfighting). The high school kids that chose these selections as the best of the best need to turn off their emo music and spend more time outside in the fresh air. There's nothing wrong with an unsettling story here and there but Every. Single. One. Come on guys! I did enjoy a few selections, and now that I think about it, they were the only nonfiction ones - Hannah and Andrew, Finding Oscar, and the aforementioned The Blind Faith of a One-Eyed Matador. And the all-too-brief Best American Yada Yada Yada was by far my favorite, as are all things Seinfeld.
natesea's review
3.0
This is a good book with lots of strong stories. 3.5 stars. A great mix of fiction and nonfiction.
ava_catherine's review
4.0
I thoroughly enjoyed The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2013. The anthology, edited by David Eggers and SF writing students, is excellent, and I found some new favorite authors. The selections are diverse and of high literary quality. I highly recommend this nonrequried reading as a required reading!
missnicelady's review
3.0
Lots of heavy stuff in this year's collection and not as many weird, whimsical pieces. Highlights for me were Jennifer Egan's "Black Box," Kiese Laymon's "How to Slowly Kill Yourself and Others in America," and Alexis Schaitkin's "Bones."
chloemakesbooks's review
2.0
These kids must be seriously depressed. Not a happy story in the bunch. Had to skip a couple stories, even- no humor to speak of, just beatings and bad luck and death and creepy religious fanaticism.
bearforester's review
This series is full of such interesting stories, both fiction and nonfiction.
balletbookworm's review
5.0
Really good selection. Much more heavily weighted toward longer essays/stories than the shorter goofy stuff.
Karen Russell has a great reporting piece about a torero who now fights with one eye, having been seriously injured by a bull (note: accolades are for writing, not subject)
Karen Russell has a great reporting piece about a torero who now fights with one eye, having been seriously injured by a bull (note: accolades are for writing, not subject)
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