A review by silentseas
The Best American Essays 2013 by Robert Atwan, Cheryl Strayed

3.0

Disappointing, as it lacks variety. It is difficult for me to imagine that every--or nearly every--good essay of 2013 included a personal narrative. Not to say that there isn't some solid writing here; there is. And there are a couple that stand out wildly, like the Daniels piece, from this generalization. But, unfortunately, by placing multiple essays about cancer and death and childbirth that are pretty similar tonally this close together, there is a blurring. I'm left wondering about the essays that were resigned to the Notable Essays list in favor of the hyper-personals and the "once-in-a-lifetime"-type stories that are so present here.