The Best American Essays 1997 /
Edited and with an Introduction by Ian Frazier ; Robert Atwan, Series Editor.
- xxi, 226 pages ; 22 cm
Foreword / Introduction / Notes on My Mother / The Fourth State of Matter / First Tell Me What Kind of Reader You Are / Labyrinthine / Legends of the Fall / Who Shot Johnny? / In the Face / Rat Patrol: A Saga / Northeast Direct / We Are Still Only Human / Ring Leader / Don't Get Comfortable / Twenty-Fish Days / Backlogs of History / A Drugstore Eden / My Father / Living in Tongues / My Habit / Dinner at Uncle Boris's / Black Swans / A Century of Cinema / Ali in Havana / The Gangster We Are All Looking For / The Case Against Babies / Biographical Notes -- Notable Essays of 1996. Robert Atwan -- Ian Frazier -- Hilton Als -- Jo Ann Beard -- Roy Blount, Jr. -- Bernard Cooper -- Louis de Bernieres -- Debra Dickerson -- Richard Ford -- Frank Gannon -- Dagoberto Gilb -- Verlyn Klinkenborg -- Natalie Kusz -- Nation Leslie -- Thomas McGuane -- Cullen Murphy -- Cynthia Ozick -- Lukie Chapman Reilly -- Luc Sante -- Paul Sheehan -- Charles Simic -- Lauren Slater -- Susan Sontag -- Gay Talese -- Le Thi Diem Thuy -- Joy Williams --
Compiles a selection of the best literary essays of the year 1996 which were originally published in American periodicals. Includes essays by Thomas McGuane, Cynthia Ozick, Susan Sontag, and Gay Talese, among others.