This Is My Best: Great Writers Share Their Favorite WorkRetha Powers, Kathy Kiernan We all have our favorite pieces by our beloved writers. But what do they think is their own best work? Inspired by an acclaimed collection published in 1942, the editors at the Quality Paperback Book Club invited fiction writers, essayists, poets, playwrights, and cartoonists to choose and comment on their best work. The result is a veritable who's who of contemporary literature and popular culture, including selections by Anne Tyler, Arthur Miller, Gary Trudeau, David Sedaris, Rita Dove, Tom Robbins, Ruth Reichl, T. C. Boyle, Mary Karr, John Updike, and dozens more. Each selection is rewarding in itself; more still for the introductions in which the author explains his or her choice, shedding light on both the work and creative process. Appealing to readers of the annual best short story collections, writers, and fans of the stellar list of contributors, This Is My Best is a landmark literary anthology. |
Contents
Confessions of a Lonely Atheist | 21 |
From Timbuktu | 34 |
From Sweet Summer | 63 |
What to Do | 79 |
A Short Story | 108 |
Dumped | 134 |
A Hidden Killer in Cajun Country | 166 |
The Former First Lady and the Football Hero | 183 |
From The WindUp Bird Chronicle | 345 |
The Wedding at the Courthouse | 363 |
The Girl with the Blackened Eye | 371 |
Impossible to Tell | 383 |
From The Botany of Desire | 390 |
America The MultiNational Society | 400 |
From Anthropology Normal Pieces | 418 |
Sand | 432 |
From Fanatics and Fools | 210 |
From Cherry | 233 |
From China Men | 249 |
From Under My Skin | 284 |
From The Fortress of Solitude | 289 |
The Mappist | 297 |
From The Facts Behind the Helsinki Roccamatios | 309 |
From Property | 318 |
From Salesman in Beijing | 324 |
From Mao to America A Writers | 337 |
Getting Away from It All | 439 |
Repeat After Me | 448 |
Flakes of Fire Handfuls of Light | 459 |
From Who Needs Donuts? | 475 |
Doonesbury The Golden Hour | 517 |
From Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant | 525 |
Son in the Afternoon | 538 |
About the Authors | 547 |
Acknowledgments | 557 |
Common terms and phrases
A. M. Homes Al Franken American arms asked Ava Gardner Bellerina Brad Dexter breath Cajun called Carolyn Ferrell Chinese clothes Cody Daddy dark daughter door dress Dutta everything eyes face father feel fingers Frank Sinatra friends front girl Gish Jen hair hand happened head hear human JOHN John Cleary Jonathan Lethem Julian kids kind kitchen knew later laugh Laxner legs living look Marsha mean Michael Pollan mind mother moved never night novel P. D. James Philip play poem remember Sagar seemed Shyamoli sitting smile someone Sophie stand stop story sure talk Tay-Sachs tell there's things thought told took turned Virna Lisi voice walked watch woman wonder words writing Yann Martel York