When I saw that this arm of the "Best American" series existed, I knew right away that I'd enjoy it. I received both the 2002 and 2003 editions for Christmas, and just finished reading 2002, the first book I've finished in 2004.
There is a wide variety of pieces in the collection. My favorites were the nonfiction pieces, especially those by journalists. Some of the short stories were good, but the collection as a whole did have some duds, the worst of which was "Hubcap Diamondstar Halo." There was a little more teen angsty stuff in there than I might have liked, but he collection is geared to readers under twenty-five (whew! just made it!), so that accounts for some of the high school-related stuff. All told, a really, really fun read, and I plan to save the 2003 collection for later this year when I need a pick-me-up.
Posted by waking slow at January 8, 2004 07:31 AMDon't teens have a say in the writing selection process for each edition as well? If so, that would be another reason for the teen angsty stuff. Still, like you say, it's a series that's worth reading.
Posted by: Max on January 9, 2004 07:04 PMAh, good point, Max. Teens did do most of the choosing, and to be fair, they picked pretty good angsty stuff, for the most part.
Posted by: waking slow on January 9, 2004 08:45 PM