Best American Essays of 2006
by Lauren Slater, guest ed.


  
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Book Description

One of the best ways to discover new writers is to settle down with one or more of the books in the ongoing series’ of Best American something or other (you fill in the blank – spiritual writing, poetry, stories, travel writing, etc.) Year after year, I come away from reading these collections, which are composed of contributions selected by a guest editor who’s a leading practitioner of the genre, with a sense that I’ve read widely and well. And always, by the time I turn the last page, I’ve compiled a long list of books and authors I want to check out. This was definitely the case with The Best American Essays of 2006, edited by Lauren Slater. I was especially moved by Marjorie Williams’ “A Matter of Life and Death,” (which first appeared in Vanity Fair and later, under the title “Hit By Lightning,” in her collection of essays, The Woman at the Washington Zoo: Writings on Politics, Family, and Fate) her account of her life following a diagnosis of cancer. Lily Tuck’s “Group Grief,” about her experience with a support group following the death of her husband, will hit home with many readers. On a lighter note, try Michele Morano’s “Grammar Lessons: The Subjunctive Mood,” which will have you considering language and usage in a way you might have simply overlooked before.