The Best American Essays 1997 / Edited and with an Introduction by Ian Frazier ; Robert Atwan, Series Editor.

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

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.