This year, I'd like to read The Best American Essays of the Century (editor – Joyce Carol Oates; coeditor – Robert Atwan). I've already read some of the book, but there are many interesting-looking essays that remain. With that goal in mind, I'll be participating in Jay's Deal Me In Challenge, and more specifically the "Full Moon Fever Version," which requires just one suit from the card deck – that's what I can realistically commit to given the other things I'd like to read this year... plus, you know, work, chores, all that. (Click on the link for more details about Deal Me In and its variations, especially if you're planning to read essays, short stories, or other short pieces this year.)
These are the essays I've chosen. Randomly picking a card from a suit (let's go with hearts) will determine reading order. And for each of these, I'll respond with a blog post either here or at Bright Across the Lifespan.
Ace: "The Devil Baby at Hull-House" by Jane Addams
Two: "Once More to the Lake" by E.B. White
Three: "Artists in Uniform" by Mary McCarthy
Four: "The Marginal World" by Rachel Carson
Five: "The Brown Wasps" by Loren Eiseley
Six: "A Sweet Devouring" by Eudora Welty
Seven: "Perfect Past" by Vladimir Nabokov
Eight: "Illumination Rounds" by Michael Herr
Nine: "The Search for Marvin Gardens" by John McPhee
Ten: "Women and Honor: Some Notes on Lying" by Adrienne Rich
Jack: "The Solace of Open Spaces" by Gretel Ehrlich
Queen: "A Drugstore in Winter" by Cynthia Ozick
King: "Heaven and Nature" by Edward Hoagland
