The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2004, Dave Eggers, Ed.

You know you're in for a good story collection when the introduction of the book breaks your heart. Actor Viggo Mortensen recounts the time his personal journals were stolen. These were books that had traveled most of Africa with him, books that may have been in Middle Earth... well, you get the idea. The stories here are solid, although there's not as much humor as in previous years. My two favorite entries are Sammy Harkham's "Poor Sailor" for it's bleak and effective visuals, and "Hidden Lives of Lakes" by Gina Ochsner. Ochsner creates a slice of Iron Curtain melancholy that effectively uses "Russian Humor" to make the happy moments tragic, and the tragic moments hilarious. David Sedaris has a pretty funny riff on his childhood sleepover experiences, and there seems to be an abundance of stories on Africa and South America. It's good to get some cultural diversity in there...

Ben Ehrenreich's "What You Eat" is easily the most disturbing story of the bunch, as an abused boy seeks revenge on his overbearing father. Christopher Buckley's "We Have a Pope!" is a marvelous illustration of corporate politics and inside the beltway humor. The weakest effort in the book is Eggers' Foreword, which tends to ramble in his stream-of-consciousness, smart-because-it's-not-smart humor that Eggers usually employs well. I always recommend this collection and can't wait to read last year's! (So I'm always a year behind. So what?)