The Best American Magazine Writing 2001 Book

The articles that stood our for me were:
david foster wallace's "the weasel, the twelve monkeys, and the shrub," a chronicle of his travels following the press junket of john mccain during his presidential bid.
rian malan's "in the jungle," an investigation into the ownership and authorship of the evolution of the token's hit "the lion sleeps tonight," beginning with the african origins of "mbube," an improvised melody and lyric by solomon linda in 1939. highly relevant, considering today's practice of sampling and reworking songs.
elizabeth gilbert's "the ghost," her portrait of hank williams III and his cathartic struggle to both embrace and emerge from his unavoidable legacy and likeness of his incomparable grandfather.
malcolm gladwell's, "the pitchman," drew me in completely, despite my lack of interest in its subject, ron popeil, a self-made TV infomercial salesman. gladwell's commentary on popeil's psyche and complete mastery of the pitch is fascinating.
anthony lane's "the maria problem," his hilarious account of a rocky horror picture show type sing-along and viewing and his ode to one of the genre's most defining musicals was engaging and nostalgic, and did a wonderful job of describing what i have long observed, that certain musicals attract a certain type of fans.
robert kurson's "my favorite teacher" a personal account of kurson trying to come to terms with the revelation that his former high school teacher and mentor is a convicted sex offender and murderer struck a personal note with me as he tries to determine what qualities in the man are still worth respect, and if there was something flawed in his own judgment and personality for revering someone who was so ultimately disturbed.
anne fadiman's "mail," a timely tribute to the "lost art of correspondence" and handwritten letters amongst the age of email. as someone who is often mocked for my "excessively lengthy" or "rambling" missives to friends, this essay convinced me that i am not crazy, nor do i "have too much time on my hands," i just belong to time when a well-thought-out and topical letter that took both effort and intelligence to execute was apprecited and a credit to the mind and achievement of the sender.