Books like The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2013

Some of these stories are terrific ....but there is a wide variety of styles....short stories, poetry, tattoo graphic series, essays, and articlesDepressing...tragic -a laughter. In other words 'a mixed bag'. Given I paid a penny for this collection plus $3.99 for shipping....I've more than gotten my money's worth. I still have not read them all...."Finding Oscar, Massacre, Memory and Justice in Guatemala", from ProPublica is a page turning story.Oscar is living in the United States illegally. He learns he has ties to the genocidal attack in Guatemala. It's a sad horrifying story...."what kind of man slaughters families yet decides to save and raise a boy?""Hannah and Andrew", from the Texas monthly, is a reminder to me ( once again), of how damaging the media can be. In this case - a child was murdered...and the media may very well have been a contributing factor to injustice in the trial.On a lighter note....I loved the tattoo series. ....( funny - charming - 'show & tell )Nick Hornby contributed "Everyone's Reading Bastard". It was a little odd - takes place in London. A guy writes for an electronic publication....but not a very optimistictype of fellow - and basically people stink! If it was suppose to be funny - I missed the joke."Black Box", by Jennifer Egan...is a fiction 'black- box' style ( delivery).... Symbolic story showing we are not we we see. One needs to read this slowly and think about what we are stripping away - and what we are. This story might create headaches! lolI read it a couple of times ... I'm not sure what the heck the point really is. I wondered if this story was written while on drugs. "Human Snowball", from the Paris Review, by Davy Rothbart...was perhaps my favorite story. It was a contemporary - inspiring story. Of course I'd love this story....it's sad with a happy ending....with 'gentle' love. 5 stars for price value 4 stars overall!