Each year, The Best American Series editors handpick the previous year's finest writing in short stories, comics, mysteries, essays, travel, science and nature, sports, spirituality, and nonrequired reading.
1. The Best American Essays 2008
A wide choice of essays from authors both well known and unknown. The good in this collection is really good.
2. The Best American Mystery Stories 2008
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George Pelecanos edits this 12 installment of stories that while generally falling into the realm of mystery, refuse to be further categoized.
3. The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2008
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Featuring fiction, nonfiction, journalism, comics, and humor, The Best American Nonrequired Reading is doubtlessly the most eclectic of Houghton Mifflin's Best American series books.
4. The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2008
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Innovative reportage that spans the subjects of biotechnology, linguistics, zoology, and cosmology, among others.
5. The Best American Short Stories 2008
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All of these stories are well-written and make for enjoyable reading, more than half are somewhat exceptional, and three or four will probably have the kind of profound effect on readers that they hope for, but dare not expect, when picking up a collection like this.
6. The Best American Spiritual Writing 2008
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Poems and essays by and about people who hold fast to particular religious traditions — Catholics, Jews, Lutherans, Zen Buddhists — as well as essays and poems on current events, science, and nature.
7. The Best American Sports Writing 2008
© Houghton Mifflin
Not merely about sports, these pieces are about the sports figures they catalogue, people with their foibles and finery laid bare.
