The Best American Essays 2017 Quotes

“irony is the very soul of the essay, the source not only of a transcendent critical judgment but of personal self-discovery.”
― Leslie Jamison, The Best American Essays 2017

“It can be a peculiar thing being black in this country. Even the people who claim to love you are capable of these little accidents of hate— the social equivalent of finding hair in your food.”
― Leslie Jamison, The Best American Essays 2017

“Bourne’s ideas about irony and empathy may seem counterintuitive: after all, isn’t the ironist typically detached, sardonic, cynical, quick to ridicule? In “The Life of Irony” Bourne importantly distinguishes these lesser qualities from true irony, which brings us closer to the experience of others—not farther away. The inner mechanism works like this: because ironists readily adopt another’s point of view and make it their own, they come to live the other’s experiences with greater understanding and compassion.”
― Leslie Jamison, The Best American Essays 2017