Reviews

The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2014 by Daniel Handler

chemwitch's review

5.0

If I could rate this over five stars, I would. I loved this. The excerpt from "I Feel YES" was a personal favorite.

_lilbey_'s review

3.0

As with all anthologies, loved some, liked some, didn't get others. I also think at this point I just need to accept I don't understand most poetry, and not feel bad about it.

booksaremyfavorite's review

so much of what i have read so far has been fantastic. I love this series. usually there's one piece that just blows me away.

dogtrax's review

4.0

Another great year of solid writing ...

sblue's review

3.0

Being a collection of various styles made it tough for me to enjoy this completely. I suppose each of the "Best American" collections has some pieces that I skip, don't finish, or read through and wonder why I did. This one had a few more of those than usual. I did not enjoy most of the chapbook works. I make no claim to being a fan of poetry, and the chapbook entries didn't make me any more of one.

In any case, I'm glad these writers, and the student reviewers, are doing what they enjoy and wish them success.

gunstreet's review

3.0

I really loved some of these pieces, but others fell flat. Thus the book took me a lot longer to read than I expected it to.

stargirlx14's review

3.0

This was a very interesting book. I enjoyed some of the stories very much. I think the only thing that would have made me enjoy it more is a theme? It was hard to read all the way through because I'd be very into a certain style or genre and then the next story was so different and foreign to me.

huntjr's review

Liked the premise but didn’t enjoy enough of the chapters

sleader92's review

emotional funny informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.25

cheryl6of8's review

adventurous challenging funny informative inspiring medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.25

This is a collection of everything -- graphic novels, plays, poems, interviews, essays, short stories. It does manage to be incredibly diverse covering Afghanistan and Sri Lanka, Ohio and California, robots and ancient gods, speculative fiction and grimmest reality.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: War, Incest, Chronic illness, Cursing, Islamophobia, Mental illness, Suicide, and Sexual content