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Stacy's review

The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2006 (The Best American Series (TM))
by Dave Eggers

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<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22428.The_Best_American_Nonrequired_Reading_2006?utm_medium=api&amp;utm_source=blog_review" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img alt="The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2006 (The Best American Series (TM))" border="0" src="http://s3.amazonaws.com/photo.goodreads.com/books/1167349155m/22428.jpg" /></a> <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22428.The_Best_American_Nonrequired_Reading_2006?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review">The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2006</a> by <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3371.Dave_Eggers">Dave Eggers</a><br/><br/>
  <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6830146?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review"><h3>My review</h3></a>
  rating: 5 of 5 stars<br/>What more can I say about Dave Eggers. His work as a writer and an editor makes me so jealous, yet I can't help but gobble it all up. He's got an amazing ear for what works and his cottage industry of literary journals, magazines, DVDs and writing labs across the country, while perhaps not exactly mainstream, really do deserve the praise (and the book throwing jealousy) all of us in the literary community can heap his way. So, it's no big surprise that I admire the unique and bold qualities of his debut memoir/novel A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius. And that I subscribe to the Believer Magazine, which (and this must be a constant bane to the writers trying to get interviews) has no religious affiliation whatsoever. And that I don't subscribe, but have bought my fair share of McSweeney's collections and Wholphin DVDs. I even have a poster. Okay. It's true. Not of Eggers himself, mind you, that would be creepy, like me keeping posters of Kirk Cameron from my high school days (not that I had posters of Kirk Cameron, which, now that I think about it, the way he's gone all Christian Right, really sort of creeps me out, although he's still kinda cute, but I digress). But I have a Believer poster that I got for resubscribing. And yes, it hangs over my work desk.
<br/>
<br/>Which is all nonsense in my recommendation to pick up a volume (any year) of The Best American Nonrequired Reading that Dave Eggers edits. There a bunch of these now in all different categories (mystery, sports writing, and the most recent addition: comics), but for my money, the nonrequired reading is the best. You get great short fiction, nonfiction and, specifically from this volume, an amazing transcript of Julia Sweeney's piece (based on her stage play) for (my favorite radio program in the universe) This American Life titled Letting Go of God as well as a commencement speech to Kenyon by David Foster Wallace that really blows the lid on all commencement speeches I've heard. Sorry, Treasure Secretary Rubin and music pioneer Quincy Jones, but Wallace has got you beat. All that and an introduction my Matt Groening. You can't miss.
  <br/><br/><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/422606?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review">View all my reviews.</a>

Stacy's review
rating:

What more can I say about Dave Eggers. His work as a writer and an editor makes me so jealous, yet I can't help but gobble it all up. He's got an amazing ear for what works and his cottage industry of literary journals, magazines, DVDs and writing labs across the country, while perhaps not exactly mainstream, really do deserve the praise (and the book throwing jealousy) all of us in the literary community can heap his way. So, it's no big surprise that I admire the unique and bold qualities of his debut memoir/novel A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius. And that I subscribe to the Believer Magazine, which (and this must be a constant bane to the writers trying to get interviews) has no religious affiliation whatsoever. And that I don't subscribe, but have bought my fair share of McSweeney's collections and Wholphin DVDs. I even have a poster. Okay. It's true. Not of Eggers himself, mind you, that would be creepy, like me keeping posters of Kirk Cameron from my high school days (no...more What more can I say about Dave Eggers. His work as a writer and an editor makes me so jealous, yet I can't help but gobble it all up. He's got an amazing ear for what works and his cottage industry of literary journals, magazines, DVDs and writing labs across the country, while perhaps not exactly mainstream, really do deserve the praise (and the book throwing jealousy) all of us in the literary community can heap his way. So, it's no big surprise that I admire the unique and bold qualities of his debut memoir/novel A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius. And that I subscribe to the Believer Magazine, which (and this must be a constant bane to the writers trying to get interviews) has no religious affiliation whatsoever. And that I don't subscribe, but have bought my fair share of McSweeney's collections and Wholphin DVDs. I even have a poster. Okay. It's true. Not of Eggers himself, mind you, that would be creepy, like me keeping posters of Kirk Cameron from my high school days (not that I had posters of Kirk Cameron, which, now that I think about it, the way he's gone all Christian Right, really sort of creeps me out, although he's still kinda cute, but I digress). But I have a Believer poster that I got for resubscribing. And yes, it hangs over my work desk.

Which is all nonsense in my recommendation to pick up a volume (any year) of The Best American Nonrequired Reading that Dave Eggers edits. There a bunch of these now in all different categories (mystery, sports writing, and the most recent addition: comics), but for my money, the nonrequired reading is the best. You get great short fiction, nonfiction and, specifically from this volume, an amazing transcript of Julia Sweeney's piece (based on her stage play) for (my favorite radio program in the universe) This American Life titled Letting Go of God as well as a commencement speech to Kenyon by David Foster Wallace that really blows the lid on all commencement speeches I've heard. Sorry, Treasure Secretary Rubin and music pioneer Quincy Jones, but Wallace has got you beat. All that and an introduction my Matt Groening. You can't miss....less

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message 1: by Nate

01/17/2008 11:47PM

at least it wasn't a poster of alan thicke.