Reviews for The Best American Essays 2003

The average rating for The Best American Essays 2003 based on 2 reviews is 4.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2015-07-19 00:00:00 Carl Rondeau I took me almost one year to just finish this book, because this was not easy reading and I needed time to digest each essay. I have to say this is an excellent book - almost all essays were excellent and offered me some kind of knowledge. Some of them were filled with emotions and autobiographical notes that tasted like some intense short films. The following essays are my favorite from the collection: 'Lavender' (Andre Aciman) - this could be due to primacy effects, but this is the BEST essay of the book. Nothing much happened, yet I did not want this essay to end. 'I bought a bed' (Donald Antrim) 'Home alone' (Caitlin Flanagan) 'The learning curve' (Atul Gawande) - this is a gem right here. 'Bumping into Mr Ravioli' (Adam Gopnik) - ahhh, this is also my favorite because it touches the subject of communications and media (my research field/graduate major). Very well-written and appealing. 'F.P.' (Myra Jehlen) - I was reading this essay when I had some trouble with my work, and somehow this soothed me. This essay read like a dream, and when it ended, I wanted to do nothing but just sit at the school lawn and stare at the sky for some time. And that was enough reading for the whole day. 'The reporter's kitchen' (Jane Kramer) - very well-chosen metaphor. I am going through this phase too, and this made me feel a bit less disappointed in myself. 'A delivery for Fred Astaire' (Frederic Morton) - a very weird essay which doesn't seem to belong to the collection, but I love its queerness! 'Citizenship in emergency' (Elaine Scarry) - excellent piece with well-grounded arguments. You know that feeling when you attended a seminar/class/lecture at your university, and at the end of it, you feel so fulfilled because you get to exchange so much knowledge and learn so much? I read this essay during my vacation, and it gave me back such feeling. I won't touch on Cheryl Strayed's essay because I believe it formed the first part of her book 'Wild' which I already read and gave it 4 stars.

Review # 2 was written on 2019-09-21 00:00:00 Paolo Malucelli When I started reading this book, I experienced it as a reminder of why I love reading, and writing and talking and thinking about reading and writing. I felt like I was connecting to something important about myself of which I had lost the thread. Not every essay struck me personally, but I adored the ones by Andre Aciman and Jane Kramer and found several others quite well done as well.