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A review by balletbookworm
The Best American Essays 2011 by Robert Atwan, Edwidge Danticat
5.0
Very, very well-curated collection of essays. A mix of different types but even the informative essays are very human and personal ("What Killed Aiyana Stanley-Jones?" is a great example of that). Katy Butler's essay "What Broke My Father's Heart" is deeply moving while Christy Vannoy's "A Personal Essay by Personal Essay" is humorous but in the way that makes you wonder if you ought to be laughing (I think we ought). Zadie Smith has a great essay about "The Social Network" movie, titled "Generation Why?" where she muses on 1.0 People (over 35s) and 2.0 People (under 35s) - I think I'm a 1.5 Person. Christopher Hitchens (the previous year's Essay editor, a volume I have yet to read, shame on me) provides a short essay "Topic of Cancer" where his writing gives the finger to his disease while also bringing you up short (the sudden realization that he never has to shave in the mornings due to the chemo is wonderfully rendered and I won't cheapen it by pulling the words out of context).
The only false note came from "Auscultation" where the author notes some cardiologists train their ears on classical music (Mozart, Bach, etc.) to better discern "trumpt from sax" - uh, unless you're listening to Shostakovitch's Suite for Jazz Orchestra, Mozart and Co. don't have saxophones.
The only false note came from "Auscultation" where the author notes some cardiologists train their ears on classical music (Mozart, Bach, etc.) to better discern "trumpt from sax" - uh, unless you're listening to Shostakovitch's Suite for Jazz Orchestra, Mozart and Co. don't have saxophones.