Reviews of The Next American Essay

“Readers, listen up, then: Here is a book that makes some beautiful music.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review

“A genuinely exhilarating work of literary history.” —Booklist

“From the living Monopoly game (in an essay by John McPhee) to a set of unattended ghostly footnotes, from the Joan Didion elegy to the Anne Carson fantasia, this book shows what the essay is and what, with any luck, it will be. The collection is full of pleasures and surprises, the most stunning of which is the ongoing essay by D’Agata himself—he transforms a mere anthology into the living biography of an art form.” —Michael Silverblatt, “Bookworm,” Public Radio

“It’s difficult to think of a nobler, more worthwhile achievement for a literary anthology.” —Rain Taxi Review of Books

“The Next American Essay is a provocative collection, one that rewards return visits, and one that just might inspire anthologists to think about the next “Next American Essay(s).” —Harvard Review