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ericfheiman's review against another edition
4.0
Not much more to say that hasn't been said in my reviews of the 2007 and 2008 editions of the same series. Eggers and his merry band of high school students have put together another compulsively readable collection of essays, fiction, and everything else in between. A perfect vacation read for those of us who want a bit more than the usual "guilty pleasure" summer literature.
meghan111's review against another edition
3.0
Some humorous lists in the front section, then a mix of essays, short stories, and comics. If I had to pick a theme, I would say that a lot of this volume seems to be about issues of identity. Like most anthologies, it varies in tone and quality and I skipped some. Unlike most, I thought the latter half of the book was better than the first half. Jonathan Franzen's essay about David Foster Wallace was great.
balletbookworm's review against another edition
4.0
Many great pieces in this volume, particularly Philip Connors's "Diary of a Fire Lookout", Jonathan Franzen's comments on the life of David Foster Wallace, Rivka Galchen's "Wild Berry Blue", and David Grann's "Chameleon" (which had a really creepy undertone).
brittrivera's review against another edition
4.0
This was a great collection of short stories. I did not feel the need to skip any of them and the flow of the stories worked really well. My favorite stories were Relations, Everything I Know About My Family on My Mother's Side, The Ticking is the Bomb (my overall favorite), and Wild Berry Blue.
nssutton's review against another edition
i found myself getting less and less enamored with these books as years passed.
mhall's review against another edition
3.0
Some humorous lists in the front section, then a mix of essays, short stories, and comics. If I had to pick a theme, I would say that a lot of this volume seems to be about issues of identity. Like most anthologies, it varies in tone and quality and I skipped some. Unlike most, I thought the latter half of the book was better than the first half. Jonathan Franzen's essay about David Foster Wallace was great.
renatasnacks's review against another edition
3.0
Hmm. I felt like this was more hit-or-miss than previous BANRs, but perhaps I have just grown grumpier. Still, some great pieces are in here.
lmc_sf's review against another edition
4.0
great collection this year - i look forward to it every year.
angela_juniper's review against another edition
4.0
Some gems, but the tone of the collection was mostly dark, depressing, and political. I didn't enjoy the collection as a whole.
one_womanarmy's review against another edition
5.0
Writers Almanac meets The Onion. For lovers of short stories, Fear and Loathing, Fyodor, guns, political commentary, graphic novels, post-modernity, and a chance to read American fiction that hasn't sold its soul to cynicism.