THE BEST AMERICAN ESSAYS 2004 -- Louis Menand, Editor

Series Editor, Robert Atwan
Houghton Mifflin Company -- tpb
Boston -- ©2004 -- 323pp
ISBN: 0-618-35709-2

A collection of essays selected from those which were printed in magazines between January 2003 and January 2004.

Forward -- Robert Atwan
Introduction -- Louis Menand
"America, Look at Your Shame!" -- James Agee
"Envy" -- Kathryn Chetkovich
"The Last Americans" - Jared Diamond
"The Arctic Hedonist" -- Anne Fadiman
"Caught" -- Jonathan Franzen
"The Unreal Thing" -- Adam Gopnik
"A Sudden Illness" -- Laura Hillenbrand
"Passover in Baghdad" -- Tim Judah
"My '80s" -- Wayne Koestenbaum
"My Yiddish" -- Leonard Michaels
"Bix and Flannery" -- Ben Miller
"Against Cool" -- Rick Moody
"Yarn" -- Kyoko Mori
"Lifelike" -- Susan Orlean
"Rock 101" -- Alex Ross
"The Mind's Eye" -- Oliver Sacks
"My Lost City" -- Luc Sante
"Arrow and Wound" -- Mark Slouka
"My Father is a Book" -- Janna Malamud Smith
"Bullet in My Neck" -- Gerald Stern
"Amor Perdida" -- Tennessee Williams
"An Enlarged Heart" -- Cynthia Zarin
Biographical Notes
Notable Essays of 2003

I found that most of these were indeed quite notable and enjoyable to read. I found "A Sudden Illness," ""My '80s," "Bix and Flannery," "Against Cool," "My Father is a Book," and "An Enlarged Heart" to be of the most interest and/or best written. Some ("Passover in Baghdad," "Rock 101," "Arrow and Wound") didn't reach me at all. The others were just sort of "there" and interesting to read, but leave no real lasting memories.

I look forward to the next in the series, now available.