Comments on: "[T]he best essays show that the name of the genre is also a verb"

"[T]he best essays show that the name of the genre is also a verb"

gladly — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 12:36:02 -0800

Robert Atwan, editor of the Best American Essays series, chooses the top ten essays since 1950 for PW's Tipsheet. All but three of the top essays are available to read online and linked in the article. (via)

By: stbalbach

stbalbach — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 12:43:00 -0800

DFW wrote some great humor/travel essays but I would put the state fair or cruise ship essays above consider the lobster.

By: matildaben

matildaben — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 13:39:09 -0800

The Fourth State of Matter is one of the most devastatingly amazing pieces of writing I have read in my life. It blew my mind when I read it in the New Yorker in 1996, and I still remember to this day that feeling of having my mind blown.

By: KokuRyu

KokuRyu — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 16:15:47 -0800

Back before I had kids and still had money to burn, I used to buy the "Best Essays" series from Maruzen Bookstore in Kyoto - in those pre-Amazon shopping days they cost me about 3000 yen (roughty $30) for the softcover version, plus the cost of a train ticket to the city. While the "Best Short Stories' seem to become dated after a few years, the "Best Essays" never age, and I've discovered some fine writers and fine magazines (notably the American Prospect) through the series, as well as a deep admiration for American writing (I'm not from the States). Edward Hoagland is one of my favourite writers who was consistently republished in the series, but sadly his essay is not available online. Which is okay, since I'm at my MIL's house in Japan for a few months, with 10 years of "Best American Essays" sitting on the shelf above me as I type this. Great post, and I look forward to reading the essays linked to here.

By: availablelight

availablelight — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 16:35:18 -0800

By: univac

univac — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 19:58:09 -0800

The Fourth State of Matter. Wow. The structure of it. Everything. Thanks for this post. This makes me want to find all the essays. And I was vaguely aware of 'consider the lobster' but this is my first time reading it. As a tourist, you become economically significant but existentially loathsome, an insect on a dead thing. That's buried in the footnotes. Love it.

By: brennen

brennen — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 21:32:11 -0800

I'm a bit more than halfway through "The Fourth State of Matter" and it's one of those pieces of writing I never want to stop reading.

By: brennen

brennen — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 21:42:10 -0800

...and yeah, god damn.