The Best American Non-Required Reading 2003

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The Best American Non-Required Reading 2003 (Best American Non-Required Reading)

by Dave Eggers (Editor), Zadie Smith (Introduction)

3.89 of 5 stars 3.89 · rating details · 1,211 ratings · 68 reviews

This is the second year we’ve put this book together, and we’re beginning to have some idea of what we’re doing. But do we know exactly what this book is? We do not. The original purpose of the collection was to introduce younger readers--high school and college-age people, more or less--to good writing from contemporary writers. But then the book came out and we discovere...more This is the second year we’ve put this book together, and we’re beginning to have some idea of what we’re doing. But do we know exactly what this book is? We do not. The original purpose of the collection was to introduce younger readers--high school and college-age people, more or less--to good writing from contemporary writers. But then the book came out and we discovered that the readership was not what we’d expected. Sure, there were some high school and college readers, but there were also older readers, and younger readers, and readers from every walk of life—police officers, firefighters, animal control experts, air-conditioning repair technicians, and prisoners. It runs the gamut.
Now, your questions answered:

What is the purpose of this book? —Dominique, Santa Monica, CA Thank you for your question, Dominique. (Such a lovely name!) The purpose of this book is to collect good work of any kind—fiction, humor, essays, comics, journalism—in one place, for the English-reading consumer. The other books in the Best American series are limited by their categories, most particularly the popular but constraining Best American Catholic Badger Mystery Writing. This collection is not so limited, which is why, we think, it dominates all similar collections, making them whimper and cower in a way that is shameful.

Why aren't there more pieces about badgers? —Reginald, Myrtle Beach, SC We had plans to include at least seven pieces about badgers—their manufacture, appearance, and care—but were prevented from doing so by Zadie Smith. This was a condition of her inclusion in this volume.

In addition to the pieces included in the collection, and Ms. Smith’s introduction—or whatever it is—will there be a piece by the editor about a young man with a crush on a sixty-five-year-old woman whose lawn he cuts? —Peter and Nam Mee, Washington, DC We might have such a piece. It might be immediately following this sentence.

(From the Foreword by Dave Eggers)

Since its inception in 1915, the Best American series has become the premier annual showcase for the country's finest short fiction and nonfiction. For each volume, the very best pieces are selected by an editor who is widely recognized as a leading writer in his or her field, making the Best American series the most respected--and most popular--of its kind.
Dave Eggers, who will be editing The Best American Nonrequired Reading annually, has once again chosen the best and least-expected fiction, nonfiction, satire, investigative reporting, alternative comics, and more from publications large, small, and on-line--The Onion, The New Yorker, Shout, Time, Zoetrope, Tin House, Nerve.com,and McSweeney's, to name just a few. Read on for "Some of the best literature you haven't been reading . . . And it's fantastic. All of it." (St. Petersburg Times).

Lynda Barry Jonathan Safran Foer Lisa Gabriele Andrea Lee J. T. Leroy Nasdijj ZZ Packer David Sedaris(less)

Hardcover, 368 pages

Published October 10th 2003 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

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Sep 26, 2011 Patrick McCoy rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: short-stories, non-fiction

Last week I spotted The Best Nonrequired Reading 2003 edited by David Eggers. I had read the inaugural issue of 2002 and enjoyed it (a few of the selections came across as juvenile). There were three stories that I had previously came across, and really enjoyed ("Visiting Hours" by Judy Budnitz in Harper's, "Saint Chola" by K. Kuashay-Boyle in McSweeney's, and "Rooster At The Hitchin Post" by David Sedaris in Esquire), which is a good thing-it shows Eggers has similar taste to mine. I have to sa...more

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Apr 30, 2011 Jessica rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: essays

I have read a few books in this series and it seems that every year it's a pretty solid collection of long form journalism, short stories, and humor pieces. Dave Eggers and his team make a conscious effort to mix big names with unknown authors. I wish I could say that my favorite stories were by these great undiscovered talents. However, these are the pieces I would give five stars:

-Zadie Smith's introduction examining how people read.
-Mark Bowden's "Tales of the Tyrant," a look inside Saddam H...more

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Jan 22, 2011 Paul 'Pezski' Perry rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: american, contemporary, read-in-2011

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'...more

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Aug 18, 2012 Sarah rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: humor, revenge, bullying, young-adult, coming-of-age, series, children, urban, psychological, ensemble, odyssey, addiction, short-stories

This is the first audiobook I've ever experienced (thanks to my overzealous clicking/buying during the bn.com warehouse sale, I overlooked the "CD" part of the description), and I think I'm ready to listen to more. Dave Egger's Forward has me rolling (not literally, of course, as I was driving), especially his sheer hatred for the Alan Parson's Project; Zadie Smith's Intro made me think I was listening to a British, better educated, more well-spoken and much more readerly version of myself; ther...more

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Feb 10, 2009 Demetria rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is a very cool collection of short fiction and non-fiction. It's a very diverse group of writers and definitely worth a read. Great for long flights and vacations too.

1 like · like · see review

Aug 14, 2010 Brian rated it 3 of 5 stars

This is not a knock against this collection, I'm just pointing out a coincidence:
Both JT Leroy and Nasdijj contributed to this book. Both later turned out not to be actual people. Or something. It was confusing. And book people tend to get mad when you say that you are a self-taught native american who raises orphaned AIDS babies* or a former teen hustler pimped out by your mother** and it turns out that you are none of those things.

“Next to the writer of real estate advertisements, the autobio...more

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Jan 25, 2011 Mandy rated it 2 of 5 stars

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...more

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May 22, 2007 seine rated it 4 of 5 stars

best travel reading ever.

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Feb 06, 2008 Rob Blixt rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: People interested in the adolescent experience (and some pretty mediocre nonfiction)

I wasn’t as impressed with this collection as I was with the previous year’s. There seemed to be more pieces here that deal with adolescences, and while that is just fine as I feel any subject is a good one if it’s written about in an interesting way, I got lost in the middle of this collection because I thought we were treading the same ground over and over again. Adolescence is confusing and tough. . . . I get it.

The nonfiction pieces, as well, weren’t as engaging. Mark Bowden’s piece on Sadam...more I wasn’t as impressed with this collection as I was with the previous year’s. There seemed to be more pieces here that deal with adolescences, and while that is just fine as I feel any subject is a good one if it’s written about in an interesting way, I got lost in the middle of this collection because I thought we were treading the same ground over and over again. Adolescence is confusing and tough. . . . I get it.

The nonfiction pieces, as well, weren’t as engaging. Mark Bowden’s piece on Sadam Hussein, while entertaining and interesting to read after Sadam's execution last year, lacked a kind of revelation I was hoping for. (But now I wonder if that’s the point? . . .) And Chuck Klosterman’s essay on the Guns ‘n Roses cover band was not insightful at all. Full of easy jokes and put downs, I felt there was absolutely nothing new being said here. I didn’t even find the jokes funny.

But there still were some standouts that warrant further investigation:

1. Zadie Smith’s Introduction – I actually found this piece to be the best. I’ll always remember her notion of good writing as “the perfect fit between what you know it is to write and what you know it is to read.”

2. Ryan Boudinot, “The Littlest Hitler” – About a boy who dresses up as Hitler for Halloween. Funny and touching with a dark edge. A good ending that would normally have me angry, but here it works.

3. Judy Budnitz, “Visiting Hours” – Family secrets revealed through the suffering of the children. A sad situation, but riveting for that fact. I will certainly read more of Budnitz.

4. Jonathan Safran Foer, “A Primer For the Punctuation of Heart Disease” – Silences become symbols. Symbols become full of emotional impact. A great little story.

5. Andrea Lee, “Golden Chariot” – An African American family takes a road trip in 1962. I think of the characters of August Wilson making it to the other side of America, both literally and figuratively.

6. Nasdijj, “Touching Him” – Sure, a hoax. But this piece had me tearing up no matter if it’s true or false. Call it fiction or call it nonfiction, I’s still emotionally powerful. (The same can’t be said for J.T. Leroy’s piece “Stuff.” Leroy isn’t good. Period.)(less)

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Nov 11, 2007 Christine rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Busy People with Short Attention Spans

Shelves: read-fiction

This is one of the most varied collections of short stories I have read in quite some time. Occassionally it becomes clear that the collection is meant for people to say "this is the most varied collection I've read" which does show it lacks some sort of central theme, something to hold on to, etc.

The variations are in structure as well as tone and voice so unlike many other prose collections or collections of one author's short stories it is will keep your mind stimulated to be sure.

I persona...more

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Sep 24, 2007 Gregg rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: shortstories, vignettes

I liked these stories, although some of them went down better than others. I didn't have the attention span necessary to attend to the subtleties of humor in "A Primer for the Punctuation of Heart Disease," although I wasn't completely addled and did recognize that the author was playing around with emoticons and the human psyche. Liked Eggers' musings on his brother's wedding, liked the Atlantic Monthly article on Sadaam Hussein, and absolutely loved Zadie Smith's introduction, as she talks thr...more

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Dec 01, 2008 Jane Yu rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: miscellaneous

this is totally a guinea pig. a few of the stories in here were excellent. shout out to "the ant of the self" by zz packer. a kooky story by js foer ("a primer for the punctuation of heart disease"). another cool article by chuck klosterman abt tribute bands. "riot baby" by daniel voll - insider peek into the 1992 la riots. it also helped that zadie wrote the intro. i freaking love zadie.

i'd still say 75% is thumbs down. good thing this series has improved.

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Jul 22, 2007 nicole j. wroblewski rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: short-stories, grown_up_ish

So far:

I'm mostly interested in selections involving heinous dictators: The Littlest Hitler and Tales of a Tyrant, an examination of the life of Saddam Hussein! I don't know why, but they're the most engaging pieces I've read thus far, and they're absolutely nothing alike. I mean, I'm pretty sure I have in fact been living under a rock ("solid as a rock!"... Arrested Development? Yes? Anyway...) for much of my life, but even so it felt surprising to realize how little I'd thought about the topic...more

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Feb 14, 2013 Alyssa rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: anthology

I loved:
-Ryan Boudinout's "The Littlest Hitler" (a little boy's Halloween experience)
-Lisa Gabriele's "The Guide to Being a Groupie"
-The Onion's "I'll try anything with a detached air of superiority"
-Amanda Holzer's "Love & Other Catastrophes: A Mix Tape" (a list of songs in clever order)
-James Pinkerton's "How to Write Suspense"

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Jun 18, 2010 Lisbeth Solberg rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is a really good assortment of fiction and nonfiction (perfect for fitful vacation reading). I even read the foreword and the introduction--though I read them afterward. It all made me feel (as I often do) that people are just getting awfully damned smart and worldly and I'm glad they can share things with me/us.

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Dec 08, 2010 Symphony Space added it

Shelves: selected-shorts-on-the-radio

Week of December 16, 2010 - December 22, 2010
What the Blind Can See
"Things We Knew When the House Caught Fire" by David Drury, performed by Keith Szarabajka
Collected in: The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2003, edited by Dave Eggers (Houghton Mifflin Company)

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Mar 07, 2008 Chloe rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: essays, short_stories, not-owned

This collection is, at best, a compendium of hit and miss articles and short stories and, at worst, a collection of writers that remind me of everything I don't like about Dave Eggers. This book has been bathroom reading, sitting on the back of the toilet in case I find myself trapped in the commode for a long duration. The problem is that I am so uninspired to read it that I've taken to bringing in other reading materials.

One bright note: I loved the article about Saddam Hussein written by Mark...more

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Oct 09, 2012 Cassie rated it 4 of 5 stars

Better than some of the other years I've read because it was less news and political filled. I loved the article about suspense writing! It was hilarious and I wanted to share it with others.

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May 01, 2011 Sarah rated it 1 of 5 stars

I though this was terrible. I picked it up because everyone at the time was obsessed with Eggars and it was on sale at Powells. I found the whole thing to be drivel.

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Aug 22, 2010 Janice rated it 2 of 5 stars

this is sort of a mixed bag. the best according to dave eggers. i laughed out loud when i saw JT leroy in evidence. still, there are some good things in here.

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Sep 05, 2012 Tristan rated it 4 of 5 stars

Sentimental favorite of mine. Read this when I was in high school and it exposed me to a lot of different kinds of writing. Important book for me as a reader.

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Dec 30, 2010 Jesse rated it 3 of 5 stars

A couple of really funny and interesting stories in this collection. Not bad.

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Feb 08, 2011 Terra added it

LOVE these books!

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Aug 31, 2012 Daniel rated it 4 of 5 stars

Zadie Smith joining forces with Dave Eggers?! This book is like a team of superheroes!!

Proud to have it on my bookshelf, scared to be finished with reading it.

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Jun 17, 2009 Emily added it

Shelves: stalled

I left the copy I was reading in the dressing room at Joe's Pub. Boo...

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Oct 18, 2007 Amy Adams rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Kerry, anyone who likes irreverent short stories

Dave Eggers is so funny. I heard him read the full version of his intro to this book in Austin. The full and the edited versions are both great pieces of writing. He just gets inside the head of this preteen character and shares those thoughts with the reader. Zadie Smith's piece perfectly describes how I feel about reading. Another notable entry is the former homeless person and her quest to find the woman who helped her save her journals.

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Apr 18, 2008 Sally rated it 4 of 5 stars

The story I remember and like best was the last one, written from the viewpoint of a 14 year old high school freshman; flip through the author biographies and you find out that it IS actually written by a 14 year old high school freshman who remains anonymous. It makes me so curious. Did her parents know she wrote this? I'm so curious about what she's doing now - by my calculation she's a junior in college.

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Feb 08, 2008 Teri Contreras rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: anthologies

Stories I loved:

'The Meticulous Grove of Black and Green' -Michael Buckley

'Visiting Hours' -Judy Budnitz

'Things We Knew When the House Caught Fire' -David Drury

'Love and Other Catastrophes: A Mix Tape' -Amanda Holzer

'Stuff' J.T. Leroy

'Touching Him' -Nasdijj

'Rooster at the Hitching Post' -David Sedaris

'Riot Baby (Life in South Central Los Angeles)' -Daniel Voll

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Feb 29, 2008 Whitney rated it 4 of 5 stars

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!

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Sep 26, 2011 Marie rated it 5 of 5 stars

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.

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About Dave Eggers

Dave Eggers is the author of six previous books, including his most recent, A Hologram for the King, about a struggling businessman pursuing a last-ditch attempt to stave off foreclosure, pay his daughter's college tuition, and finally do something great. In this novel the author takes us around the world to show how one man fights to hold himself and his splintering family together in the face of...more

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