The Best American Essays 2024 by Wesley MorrisMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
As with most collections not all will feel like the best, even though this series purports to be as such. I found only a small few that I did not care for as much as the others. Overall, I am happy to have read the entirety, even the ones I didn’t care for.
In general, I would say this year collection of essays are autobiographical in nature. Not all, but mostly, or close to, such as mostly about a family member. There are exceptions, of course.
A few, maybe three, essays played with the format, which I did not particularly enjoy, such as the essay: Because: An Etiology (by Richard Prins). Every sentence started with the word because, which was repetitive. Yet, the story itself was moving. The essay did work due to the format, yet not my favorite.
The Ones We Sent Away (by Jennifer Senior), Woodstove (by Brock Clarke), and The Anatomy of Panic (by Michael W. Clune) are among my favorite essays. Not for the subject manner per se, but the way they were written. They drew me in. It felt like the author was in the room talking to me, sometimes anyway. And yet, there are others I could also say were my favorite.
There are many annual “best of” series, but this is the first I read via audiobook. That may have been one reason why I finished this entirely. There were several narrators used, which helped keep the essays differentiated.
I have partially read several other “Best American” annual collections, but only completed in full several of the “Best Technology Writing.” These are from a different publisher, and short lived, although a very similar format. (do wish they would be published again.)
From what I’ve seen, these series books are quite long, with the page numbers being deceptive for the length. The print typically being small with little room between sentences so the text is jammed packed, with one page being more like two or three of a typical book. Yet there is something of these series that appeals to me. If I had infinite time I would read more of the backlog of these annual collections, particularly the Essays, Science & Nature Writing, oh and Travel writing.
Book rating: 4.25
(rounded up because I like the series)
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