Best American Essays 2012

Nonfiction from Malcolm Gladwell, Francine Prose, Jonathan Franzen, and more: "There is not a dud in the bunch. [An] exhilarating collection." - Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Whether a personal reflection on a wife's decline from Alzheimer's, a critique of the overdiagnosis of mood disorders, a lighthearted look at menopause, a friend's commentary on David Foster Wallace's heartbreaking suicide, or a memoir of teaching underprivileged children, this collection highlights the best essays of the year with contributions from:

Benjamin Anastas . Marcia Angell . Miah Arnold . Geoffrey Bent . Robert Boyers . Dudley Clendinen . Paul Collins . Mark Doty . Mark Edmundson . Joseph Epstein . Jonathan Franzen . Malcolm Gladwell . Peter Hessler . Ewa Hryniewicz-Yarbrough . Garret Keizer . David J.Lawless . Alan Lightman . Sandra Tsing Loh . Ken Murray . Francine Prose . Richard Sennett . Lauren Slater . Jose Antonio Vargas . Wesley Yang

"A trove of fine writing on big issues." - Kirkus Reviews