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The Best American Essays 2022
- Narrated by: Robert Atwan, Iva-Marie Palmer, Ewan Chung, William DeMeritt, Tyla Collier, Rainy Fields, Eunice Wong, Micky Shiloah
- Length: 12 hrs and 54 mins
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Publisher's summary
A collection of the year’s best essays, selected by award-winning writer Alexander Chee.
Alexander Chee, an essayist of “virtuosity and power” (Washington Post), selects twenty essays out of thousands that represent the best examples of the form published the previous year.
Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
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Who Killed My Father rips into France’s long neglect of the working class and its overt contempt for the poor, accusing the complacent French - at the minimum - of negligent homicide. The author goes to visit the ugly gray town of his childhood to see his dying father, barely 50 years old, who can hardly walk or breathe: “You belong to the category of humans whom politics consigns to an early death.” It’s as simple as that.
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Powerful. Poetic. Sparse. Piercing.
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Heartwood
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When her earliest childhood friend is diagnosed with a terminal illness, Becker sets off on a quest to immerse herself in what it means to be mortal. Can we live our lives more fully knowing some day we will die? With a keen eye toward that which makes life worth living, interfaith minister, mom, and perpetual seeker Barbara Becker recounts stories where life and death intersect in unexpected ways.
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The author’s compassion
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Home Baked
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During the '70s in San Francisco, Alia's mother ran the underground Sticky Fingers Brownies, delivering upwards of 10,000 illegal marijuana edibles per month throughout the circus-like atmosphere of a city in the throes of major change. She exchanged psychic readings with Alia's future father, and thereafter had a partner in business and life. Exhilarating, laugh-out-loud funny, and heartbreaking, Home Baked celebrates an eccentric and remarkable extended family, taking us through love, loss, and finding home.
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Everything and more
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Before You Knew My Name
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When she arrived in New York on her eighteenth birthday carrying nothing but $600 cash and a stolen camera, Alice Lee was looking for a fresh start. Now, just one month later, she is the city’s latest Jane Doe. She may be dead but that doesn’t mean her story is over. Meanwhile, Ruby Jones is also trying to reinvent herself. After travelling halfway around the world, she’s lonelier than ever in the Big Apple. Until she stumbles upon a woman’s body by the Hudson River, and suddenly finds herself unbreakably tied to the unknown dead woman.
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Excellent
- By cristina on 11-11-22
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What listeners say about The Best American Essays 2022
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Melissa
- 02-28-23
Best of this series ever
I've never read completely any of the Best American Essays, or Best American Short Stories, for that matter. Over several attempts at the last 15+ editions, I've come to understand the Editor is as--if not more-- important than the authors and their essays/stories. Apparently, Chee and I have similar literary tastes. These essays divert from the traditional, research-heavy style, which can leave readers flipping the pages if the specific topic isn't of great interest, no matter the strength of its other attributes. They read like academic essays, rather than personal ones. This compilation is not only contemporary in its memoir-esque, and in some, lyrical style, but the collection represents the most daunting issues of our day. But it does so artistically. Never has a volume, of essays especially, struck me as a true piece of art. Everyone should read this book and everyone could; each author's story evokes thoughtful contemplation and compassion, without pushing an agenda.
The only category I gave less than 5 stars was for narration. I listen to a lot of books and narration can make or break my ability to stay with it. Because these essays are individually short compared to a novel, and because the writing is so beautiful, I listened 'through' a few of the voices, about 3-4 of them, not too terrible.
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- Sue Crilly
- 07-10-23
Provocative looks at the World from Different Points of View
No, I didn’t love and admire every essay, but it was great to have them assembled together in one book I could listen to and contemplate. The best way to learn about good, creative non-fiction is to read some and decide for yourself. What resonates with you and what doesn’t. Thank you for making this book available.
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- Amazon Shopper
- 09-28-23
Excellent writing and essays; disappointing narration
Chee, a remarkable talent in his own right, has collected some truly moving and elegantly crafted essays. You probably won’t relate to many, if any, of them, but that feels like the point of the collection - these are not the same old middle-class white dude literary darlings; we get personal essays from a variety of sources and points of view and you’ll learn about experiences you won’t have had yourself. Truly excellent collection.
Sadly, many of the narrators aren’t well matched to the content - some are fine, a few are great, but several of them sound nearly flippant and lighthearted while reading serious essays, a mismatch that is not only distracting but in a couple of cases nearly ruins the impact of the story. It’s a disservice to the authors that’s a shame.
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- D. Ofallon
- 07-02-23
Boring
These essays are not anywhere near the best of 2022. This is worst collection of “best essays” I’ve read in Robert Antwan’s anthologies.
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