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Best of the Web 2008
by Steve Almond

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<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3245313.Best_of_the_Web_2008?utm_medium=api&amp;utm_source=blog_review" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img alt="Best of the Web 2008" border="0" src="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/31Uy-MReemL._SL160_.jpg" /></a> <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3245313.Best_of_the_Web_2008?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review">Best of the Web 2008</a> by <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/28596.Steve_Almond">Steve Almond</a> 
 <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/21100523?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review"><h3>My review</h3></a>
 rating: 5 of 5 stars 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.
 <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/637109?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review">View all my reviews.</a>

Dzanc's review
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bookshelves: published

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 lite...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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