Best of the Web 2008

published	July 18th 2008 by Dzanc Books
binding	Paperback
isbn	0979312345 (isbn13: 9780979312342)
ebook
pages	353
description	Dzanc Books is excited to announce plans to publish an annual The Best of the Web anthology series starting in 2008. This print anthology will compile...more [close] Dzanc Books is excited to announce plans to publish an annual The Best of the Web anthology series starting in 2008. This print anthology will compile the best fiction, poetry, and nonfiction that online literary journals have to offer in an eclectic collection in the manner of other broad-ranging anthologies such as The Pushcart Prize anthology, The O. Henry Prize Stories, and Best American Short Stories. The Best of the Web anthology will be the first comprehensive print anthology to represent the vast array of contemporary online literature on an annual basis, bringing the world of web journals to a greater audience. Nathan Leslie, Fiction Editor for The Pedestal Magazine, Editor-in-Chief of The Potomac, and the author of five short story collections, and will serve as the series editor. [close]
date added	04-27-08 edit book

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07/25/08

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From the LA Times:

'Best of the Web 2008'

The collection of online literature, from series editor Nathan Leslie and guest editor Steve Almond, offers a range of voices rarely found together.

By Chris Daley
July 27, 2008

With growing mainstream acceptance -- and, more important, better writing -- online literature has started to come into its own. Yet how does a curious reader make sense of it? Nathan Leslie had an idea. He's the series editor of "Best of the Web 2008" (Dza...more From the LA Times:

'Best of the Web 2008'

The collection of online literature, from series editor Nathan Leslie and guest editor Steve Almond, offers a range of voices rarely found together.

By Chris Daley
July 27, 2008

With growing mainstream acceptance -- and, more important, better writing -- online literature has started to come into its own. Yet how does a curious reader make sense of it? Nathan Leslie had an idea. He's the series editor of "Best of the Web 2008" (Dzanc Books: 340 pp., $18 paper); Steve Almond is this year's guest editor.

Culled from online magazines published between January and October 2007, the selections here represent three distinct categories: fiction, poetry and creative nonfiction. This mingling and occasional blurring of genres distinguishes "Best of the Web" from any other print collections showcasing online literature.

The anthology offers a "collective" of voices rarely found together: international literary lights Juan José Millás and Okey Ndibe; cultural critic-poet Edward Hirsch and poet David Bottoms; netizens Seth Harwood and Garth Risk Hallberg; and a wide array of other writers, including Myfanwy Collins, Elizabeth Crane and Christina Kallery.

This multiplicity of perspectives -- in terms of race and gender, as well as location and experience -- may be organic to the Web. Let's not overlook the good work of the editors, though. The pieces were chosen by "decision of committee"; as a result, the book is largely free of "aesthetic fetishism." The one unifying thread has to do with format: The selections are generally on the short side, with longer texts divided into sections, for easier screen reading.

"Best of the Web" isn't perfect; the editors include several seemingly random author interviews that come across as awkward and self-congratulatory. For the most part, though, the book is heartily significant, featuring work that is sometimes surprising, sometimes frustrating and sometimes exhilarating -- not unlike the Web itself....less

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