The Best American Essays 2013 by Robert AtwanMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
I think its really difficult to rate anthologies since they contain so many different elements but I'm basing my rating of this on how I felt about it as a whole after finishing. I only skipped 2 essays which I just couldn't connect two. The rest were all either good or great. I took my time getting through these essays, dipping in and out as I felt like it. It worked well for me.
There were two stand out essays for me - Tod Goldberg's essay about Duk Koo Kim and Steven Harvey's essay about his mother's suicide. Those are the two that will stay with me ... that I haven't forgotten about and that really resonated with me. Frankly, I'm surprised that the Duk Koo Kim essay worked for me given the subject matter but it was fantastic. And it goes to show that it's not always the topic that matters, but the writing. It was written so compellingly well that I didn't want it to end. And there were passages of Steven Harvey's essay that literally brought me to tears - due to how beautifully written they were AND how they resonated with some of the things I've experienced in my life.
This collection is worth it, just for those two essays, but there are many others worth the read. As I said, there were just two that I didn't' enjoy. I also recommend Cheryl Strayed's introduction which is also fantastic! I recommend this collection, especially to those who enjoy personal narrative essays!
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