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advujovich's review against another edition
5.0
My dad had picked this one up and got bored with it. I loved Zadie Smith's introduction to the novel concerning what you feel you should be reading and how you often miss a lot of contemporary literature because you spend all your time reading what you "should" be reading. It brought up my overwhelming emotions that I can never read everything out there, but then lead me to think that this probably means I should just read whatever I want to. A few of the stories that I loved: "The Littlest Hitler" by Ryan Boudinot made me laugh out loud; "Tales of the Tyrant" by Mark Bowden--creative nonfiction about Saddam Huessien; "Saint Chola" by K. Kvashay-Boyle; and (my favorite) "Rana Fergina" about two very different girls who come together to dissect a frog, by Dylan Landis. Lots of new authors to look into!
reasie's review against another edition
5.0
Not a loser in the lot, a great anthology that mixes it up with lots of variety, from an Onion article to a serious non-fiction piece or two, but the meat is almost all coming-of-age stories, which I don't mind. The stories were picked by a panel of high-schoolers, it'd be odd if they picked stories about middle-aged housewives.
Absolutely a must-read.
Absolutely a must-read.
pharmdad2007's review against another edition
3.0
A couple of really funny and interesting stories in this collection. Not bad.
moxiedoll's review against another edition
2.0
I feel guilty suggesting I actually read this entire book, as the audio CD only contained 7 of the 25 selections. However that was enough for me. Perhaps I shouldn't have listened to it so soon after listening to another memoir steeped in gen x/y cultural references (Crosley) and coming of age stories. Or perhaps I should simply stop trying to find something out there that Eggers is involved with that I actually like, as I don't think it exists. In any event, what I heard was more than enough to proof that I don't need to read the rest.
wmainwold's review against another edition
4.0
I love this entire series. I've read this year and one other year (I can't remember which) and really enjoyed them both. Each book has a variety of literary work: fiction, poems, non-fiction, comics: you name it, they have it! And its all amazing, hence the name "Best...reading" Its a great book to have around for casual reading. I'm looking forward to the 2007 edition!
leaton01's review against another edition
3.0
This review is of both the book and the audiobook. When the great books and hottest picks of the year are chosen, what happens to all the rest? Are they just tossed to the roadside, forgotten and left to gather dust on a bookshelf in a second-hand bookstore? While these books may not contain the next George Orwell, Victor Hugo, or Charles Dickens, it doesn’t mean they are devoid of literary value. “The Best American Non-Required Reading, 2003,” sets out to prove just that. But with a label like “Non-Required Reading,” this book begs the question, “With everything that is published in a year, how can you arbitrarily pick the ‘best American non-required reading’?” No matter how one tries to rationalize this title, it still sounds like it’s the second place writing. But instead, it proves to be alternative reading that teeters on a thin line. It does not get the attention it probably deserves but is not deserving of a great deal of attention.
Regardless of the dubious title, the pieces are still quality works filled with humor, thought, understanding, and amusement. They cover a range of worlds from life in a tribute band to dealing with social differences (and indifferences) in suburbia to how open-mindedness and arrogance often become bedfellows. They are short pieces that can sometimes require reflection before moving on while others require no reflection but rather a quick laugh. None of the stories particularly stuck out and some are even hard to remember, but no story seemed poorly chosen for this selection.
This abridgment does not do the series justice. The audiobook permeates with potential and just when the book is settling into its groove, the book finishes. With just three CDs, the listener only hears seven stories. Most of the first CD is the foreword, which is followed by a lagging introduction, detracting from the audiobook as a whole. The stories are interesting in many regards particularly for their wit and also for their ability to keep the reader wondering, just where the story is going. It’s no wonder why there were chosen for the series, but there’s no explanation as to why these were the only stories chosen for the abridgment. An introduction to the audio edition explaining the why these particular stories were picked would have served as a better introduction than what was offered. An audiobook like this should be additionally offered as unabridged. Two of these seven short stories are less than seven minutes in length. This brief glimpse only leaves the listener wanting more. Abridging a story into three hours gives you the basic plot of the book, but abridging an anthology cannot really make its point in such a short span with just a few stories.
Most works were read by the author and read decently. Granted, the stories were short and lacked many of the dynamic elements that might require a professional narration, but the authors held their own as narrators and delivered their stories with no errors. Amazingly with some stories such as “Saint Chola,” the author’s voice seemed to perfectly match the story. However, it would be interesting to see how a single narrator would have read all the stories.
“The Best American Non-Required Reading” isn’t definitive nor is it classic in any sense but it is fun. These seven stories are entertaining and enjoyable enough that they give an honest definition to the title of the series. They also work well for short commutes or for the listener who only listens in short intervals of fifteen to thirty minutes. Certainly, no one should be required to read them, but if you’re tired of recommended and required reading, you should try these for a nice diversion.
Regardless of the dubious title, the pieces are still quality works filled with humor, thought, understanding, and amusement. They cover a range of worlds from life in a tribute band to dealing with social differences (and indifferences) in suburbia to how open-mindedness and arrogance often become bedfellows. They are short pieces that can sometimes require reflection before moving on while others require no reflection but rather a quick laugh. None of the stories particularly stuck out and some are even hard to remember, but no story seemed poorly chosen for this selection.
This abridgment does not do the series justice. The audiobook permeates with potential and just when the book is settling into its groove, the book finishes. With just three CDs, the listener only hears seven stories. Most of the first CD is the foreword, which is followed by a lagging introduction, detracting from the audiobook as a whole. The stories are interesting in many regards particularly for their wit and also for their ability to keep the reader wondering, just where the story is going. It’s no wonder why there were chosen for the series, but there’s no explanation as to why these were the only stories chosen for the abridgment. An introduction to the audio edition explaining the why these particular stories were picked would have served as a better introduction than what was offered. An audiobook like this should be additionally offered as unabridged. Two of these seven short stories are less than seven minutes in length. This brief glimpse only leaves the listener wanting more. Abridging a story into three hours gives you the basic plot of the book, but abridging an anthology cannot really make its point in such a short span with just a few stories.
Most works were read by the author and read decently. Granted, the stories were short and lacked many of the dynamic elements that might require a professional narration, but the authors held their own as narrators and delivered their stories with no errors. Amazingly with some stories such as “Saint Chola,” the author’s voice seemed to perfectly match the story. However, it would be interesting to see how a single narrator would have read all the stories.
“The Best American Non-Required Reading” isn’t definitive nor is it classic in any sense but it is fun. These seven stories are entertaining and enjoyable enough that they give an honest definition to the title of the series. They also work well for short commutes or for the listener who only listens in short intervals of fifteen to thirty minutes. Certainly, no one should be required to read them, but if you’re tired of recommended and required reading, you should try these for a nice diversion.
pezski's review against another edition
4.0
3.5 stars overall
Individual ratings:
Foreword - Dave Eggars 3
Introduction - Zadie Smith 4
The Guide to Being a Groupie - Lisa Gabriele 2
Things We Knew When the House Caught Fire - David Drury 4
The Pretenders - Chuck Klosterman 4
How To Write Suspense - James Pinkerton 3
Stuff - JT Leroy 4
Saint Chola - K. Kvashay-Bayle 4
I'll Try Anything With a Detached Air of Superiority - The Onion 3
A moderately interesting collection, but more of a mixed bag than I'd expect from anything claiming to be a 'best of' overview. The stand-out stories were the David Drury, JT Leroy and Kvashay-Bayle, respectively about the prejudices expressed against a family that doesn't fit in an exclusive community, a homeless girl findng unexpected artistic comfort and a young teenage Muslim girl coming to terms with her place in American society just before the Iraq war. Chuck Klosterman's reportage on the modern phenomenon of the tribute band was funny and insightful, and Zadie Smith intro was an excellent little essay on finding a balance between required and experimental reading, as well as finding one's voice as a writer.
Both the Onion piece and the James Pinkerton story were vaguely amusing but rather slapstick in their approach to satire while Lisa Gabriele's tale of a rebellious teenage girl read like a college creative writing exercise. Both this and 'Saint Chola' used a second person narration, but here it seemed somehow to distance rather than include the reader.
There was something oddly backward-looking about this collection on the whole; all the fiction or memoirs dealt with looking back to childhood or adolescence, while Klosterman's piece is partly about nostalgia and the Onion's oddly old fashioned - although possibly as it is a satire of those awful New Yorker articles that do actually read like that.
I also have the 2004 collection, so am interested to see how that compares.
Individual ratings:
Foreword - Dave Eggars 3
Introduction - Zadie Smith 4
The Guide to Being a Groupie - Lisa Gabriele 2
Things We Knew When the House Caught Fire - David Drury 4
The Pretenders - Chuck Klosterman 4
How To Write Suspense - James Pinkerton 3
Stuff - JT Leroy 4
Saint Chola - K. Kvashay-Bayle 4
I'll Try Anything With a Detached Air of Superiority - The Onion 3
A moderately interesting collection, but more of a mixed bag than I'd expect from anything claiming to be a 'best of' overview. The stand-out stories were the David Drury, JT Leroy and Kvashay-Bayle, respectively about the prejudices expressed against a family that doesn't fit in an exclusive community, a homeless girl findng unexpected artistic comfort and a young teenage Muslim girl coming to terms with her place in American society just before the Iraq war. Chuck Klosterman's reportage on the modern phenomenon of the tribute band was funny and insightful, and Zadie Smith intro was an excellent little essay on finding a balance between required and experimental reading, as well as finding one's voice as a writer.
Both the Onion piece and the James Pinkerton story were vaguely amusing but rather slapstick in their approach to satire while Lisa Gabriele's tale of a rebellious teenage girl read like a college creative writing exercise. Both this and 'Saint Chola' used a second person narration, but here it seemed somehow to distance rather than include the reader.
There was something oddly backward-looking about this collection on the whole; all the fiction or memoirs dealt with looking back to childhood or adolescence, while Klosterman's piece is partly about nostalgia and the Onion's oddly old fashioned - although possibly as it is a satire of those awful New Yorker articles that do actually read like that.
I also have the 2004 collection, so am interested to see how that compares.