The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2017 Read online

  DAVE CHAPPELLE, monologue, Saturday Night Live, NBC, November 12, 2016. Imagining President-elect Trump’s conversation with President Obama at the White House:

  “Hello, Donald. How ya feeling?”

  “Oh, God. Got to tell you, this job looks like it’s going to be a lot harder than I thought.”

  “Really? It’s not that hard, I mean at least you get to be white while you’re doing it.”

  TAYLOR DOBBS and ANGELA EVANCIE, “How the Iowa Caucus Works, In 2 Minutes (Starring Legos),” Vermont Public Radio, January 27, 2016. Delightful animation explaining the mechanics of the Iowa Caucus using toys. Answers the age-old question of how precinct captains convince a plastic Yoda to join their candidate’s preference group.

  ROD DREHER, “Tribune of Poor White People,” American Conservative, July 22, 2016. Question and answer with J. D. Vance, author of Hillbilly Elegy. Vance:

  “No one seems to understand why conventional blunders do nothing to Trump. But in a lot of ways, what elites see as blunders people back home see as someone who—finally—conducts themselves in a relatable way. He shoots from the hip; he’s not constantly afraid of offending someone; he’ll get angry about politics; he’ll call someone a liar or a fraud. This is how a lot of people in the white working class actually talk about politics, and even many elites recognize how refreshing and entertaining it can be! So it’s not really a blunder as much as it is a rich, privileged Wharton grad connecting to people back home through style and tone. Viewed like this, all the talk about ‘political correctness’ isn’t about any specific substantive point, as much as it is a way of expanding the scope of acceptable behavior. People don’t want to believe they have to speak like Obama or Clinton to participate meaningfully in politics, because most of us don’t speak like Obama or Clinton.”

  DAVE EGGERS, “None of the Old Rules Apply,” Guardian, November 18, 2016. BANR’s founding editor drives across the country in the aftermath of the election:

  “I left the memorial and turned on to a two-lane road, part of the Lincoln Highway that runs through the state—part of the first coast-to-coast highway in the United States. Just beyond a sign advertising home-grown sweetcorn, there was a residential home, the first house anyone might encounter when leaving the United 93 Memorial, and on this home, there is a vast Confederate flag draped over the front porch.

  It’s important to note that this was the Lincoln Highway. And that the Civil War ended 160 years ago. And that Pennsylvania was not a state in the Confederacy. So to see this, an enormous Confederate flag in a Union state, a mile from a symbol of national tragedy and shared sacrifice, was an indicator that there was something very unusual in the mood of the country. Ancient hatreds had resurfaced. Strange alliances had been formed. None of the old rules applied.”

  ALEC MACGILLIS, “Revenge of the Forgotten Class,” ProPublica, November 10, 2016. The Rust Belt angle:

  “Tiffany Chesser, said she was voting for [Trump] because her boyfriend worked at a General Electric light-bulb plant nearby that was seeing more of its production lines being moved to Mexico. She saw voting for Trump as a straightforward transaction to save his job. ‘If he loses that job we’re screwed—I’ll lose my house,’ she said. ‘There used to be a full parking lot there—now you go by, there are just three trucks in the lot.’”

  LIZ MERIWETHER, “Which Game of Thrones Characters Would be Republicans, According to Delegates at the RNC,” Vulture.com, July 22, 2016:

  “Mike refused to assign a party to the psychotic King Joffrey, because ‘I don’t think you want to say that any political party is necessarily going to take a crossbow and shoot a naked woman to a bedpost 17 times. That would just be rude. We’re trying to be respectful in our political discourse.’”

  MATTHEW SCHMITZ, “Donald Trump, Man of Faith,” First Things, August 2016. Theological journal traces the Republican nominee’s religious beliefs back to Norman Vincent Peale, pastor and author of the best-selling self-help book, The Power of Positive Thinking. Trump attended Peale’s church and often cites him as a major influence in his life:

  “At a campaign event in Iowa, Trump shocked the audience by saying that he had never asked God for forgiveness. All his other disturbing statements—his attacks on every vulnerable group—are made intelligible by this one. The self-sufficient faith Trump absorbed from Peale has no place for human weakness. Human frailty, dependency, and sinfulness cannot be acknowledged; they must be overcome.”

  WRITING STAFF OF parks and recreation, “A Letter to America from Leslie Knope, Regarding Donald Trump,” Vox.com, November 10, 2016. A beloved fictional public servant offers hope and apologies to American girls:

  “When I was in fourth grade, my teacher Mrs. Kolphner taught us a social studies lesson. The 17 students in our class were introduced to two fictional candidates: a smart if slightly bookish-looking cartoon tortoise named Greenie, and a cool-looking jaguar named Speedy . . . Before we voted, Greg Laresque asked if he could nominate a third candidate, and Mrs. Kolphner said ‘Sure! The essence of democracy is that everyone—’ and Greg cut her off and said, ‘I nominate a T. rex named Dr. Farts who wears sunglasses and plays the saxophone, and his plan is to fart as much as possible and eat all the teachers,’ and everyone laughed, and before Mrs. Kolphner could blink, Dr. Farts the T. rex had been elected president of Pawnee Elementary School in a 1984 Reagan-esque landslide, with my one vote for Greenie the Tortoise playing the role of ‘Minnesota.’

  After class, I was inconsolable. Once the other kids left, Mrs. Kolphner came over and put her arm around me. She told me I had done a great job advocating for Greenie the Tortoise . . .

  ‘Greenie was the better candidate,’ I said. ‘Greenie should have won.’

  She nodded.

  ‘I suppose that was the point of the lesson,’ I said.

  ‘Oh, no,’ she said. ‘The point of the lesson is: People are unpredictable, and democracy is insane.’”

  Notable Nonrequired Reading of 2016

  MICHAEL ANDREASEN

  Bodies in Space, Tin House

  CHLOE CALDWELL

  Hungry Ghost, I’ll Tell You in Person

  MICHAEL CHABON

  My Son, the Prince of Fashion, GQ

  JAI CHAKRABARTI

  A Small Sacrifice for an Enormous Happiness, A Public Space

  KATHLEEN COLLINS

  Whatever Happened to Interracial Love?, Whatever Happened to Interracial Love?

  CHAUNA CRAIG

  Hidden in Plain Sight, Ploughshares

  DEXTER FILKINS

  The End of Ice, The New Yorker

  AMITY GAIGE

  Hollow Object, Ploughshares

  JOSH HARKINSON and KYLE TAYLOR

  Confessions of a Gun Range Worker, Mother Jones

  ANNA JOURNEY Little Face, AGNI

  JACOB S. KNABB

  A Portrait of a Coal Town on the Brink of Death, Vice

  SAMUEL CLARE KNIGHTS

  The Manual Alphabet, Fence

  ALYSA LANDRY

  Presidents and Native Americans series, Indian Country Today

  AMY MARGOLIS

  Don’t Look Up, Iowa Review

  DAVID TOMAS MARTINEZ

  Triptych on Ambition, Tin House

  ELIZABETH MCCRACKEN

  A Walk-Through Human Heart, Zoetrope

  ASHLEY NELSON LEVY

  Auntie, Zyzzyva

  MOLLY OSHATZ

  College Without Truth, First Things

  NATHAN POOLE

  Open Season, Ecotone

  KATHRYN SCHULZ

  Citizen Khan, The New Yorker

  DANYEL SMITH

  When Whitney Hit the High Note, ESPN

  DEB OLIN UNFERTH

  The First Full Thought of Her Life, Wait till You See Me Dance

  About 826 National

  Proceeds from this book benefit youth literacy

  A percentage of the cover price of this book goes to 826 National, and its network of seven youth tutoring,
writing, and publishing centers in seven cities around the country.

  Since the birth of the 826 Network in 2002, the organization’s goal has been to help students ages 6–18 explore their creativity and improve their writing skills, while helping teachers get their classes excited about writing. 826’s mission is based on the understanding that great leaps in learning can happen with individualized attention, and that strong writing skills are fundamental to future success.

  Established in 2008, the 826 National office provides strategic leadership, administration, and resources to ensure the success of seven—soon to be eight—writing and tutoring centers in San Francisco, New York City, Los Angeles, Ann Arbor/Detroit, Boston, Chicago, Washington, DC, and, beginning in 2018, New Orleans. Each 826 chapter offers five core programs: after-school tutoring, field trips, workshops, the Young Authors’ Book Project, and in-school programs—all offered completely free of charge for students, teachers, and schools. Each program offers innovative and dynamic project-based learning opportunities that build on students’ classroom experience and strengthen their ability to express ideas effectively, creatively, confidently, and in their own voice.

  The demand for the 826 Network’s services is tremendous. In 2015–16, 826 chapters worked with nearly 5,000 active volunteers and over 32,000 students nationally, hosted 676 field trips, completed 240 in-school projects, offered 568 evening and weekend workshops, held over 1,500 after-school tutoring sessions, and produced 898 student publications. At many of the chapters, field trips are fully booked almost a year in advance, teacher requests for in-school tutor support continue to rise, and the majority of evening and weekend workshops have waitlists.

  826 Network volunteers are local community residents, professional writers, teachers, artists, college students, parents, bankers, lawyers, and retirees from a wide range of professions. These passionate individuals can be found at all of the writing centers and neighboring schools each day, running morning field trips, sitting side-by-side with students after school, and helping entire classrooms learn the art of writing.

  Read on to learn more about each 826 chapter.

  826 Valencia

  Named for its street address in San Francisco, 826 Valencia was founded in 2002 by educator Ninive Calegari and author Dave Eggers. 826 Valencia comprises two writing centers—the flagship location in the Mission District and a new center in the Tenderloin neighborhood—and three satellite classrooms at nearby public schools. 826 Valencia offers tutoring and workshops at both centers, supports teachers in their classrooms through in-school projects, and hosts field trips from local public schools in which students collectively write stories, create choose-your-own-adventure books, or write and record their own podcasts. This year 826 Valencia will produce 47 major student-written publications, and cultivate wonder, confidence, and an affinity for writing for 7,000 under-resourced students all over San Francisco.

  826 NYC

  826 NYC’s writing center opened its doors in September 2004. It provides more than 3,000 students a year with the opportunity to build their writing skills and confidence in their creative voice, through a combination of after-school, in-school, and field trip programs. 826NYC operates year-round programs out of the world famous Brooklyn Superhero Supply Co., the South Williamsburg Branch of the Brooklyn Public Library, and its East Harlem Writers Room located at M.S. 7/Global Tech Prep. In addition, 826NYC runs short-term programs with Title 1 schools throughout the city. 826NYC publishes more than 25 publications each year, supported by a corps of more than 300 volunteers annually.

  826 LA

  826LA benefits greatly from the wealth of cultural and artistic resources in the Los Angeles area. The organization regularly presents free workshops at the Armand Hammer Museum in which esteemed artists, writers, and performers teach their craft. 826LA has collaborated with the J. Paul Getty Museum, the Los Angeles County Museum of Arts, and, most recently, the Broad Museum. Since opening in March 2005, 826LA has provided thousands of hours of free individualized writing support, held summer camps for English language learners, and given students sports-writing training in the Lakers’ press room.

  826 CHI

  826 CHI is headquartered in the Wicker Park neighborhood of Chicago and serves thousands of students from over 120 different schools throughout the city. Originally opened in 2005, 826CHI moved to a new base of operations in 2014 and opened their new storefront, the Secret Agent Supply Co., full of products that unlock creativity and trigger new adventures for agents of all ages. Over 400 active volunteers support 826CHI’s programs, which strive to strengthen each student’s power to express ideas effectively, creatively, confidently, and in their individual voice.

  826 MICHIGAN

  826michigan opened its doors on June 1, 2005, on South State Street in Ann Arbor. In October of 2007 the operation moved downtown, to a new and improved location on Liberty Street. Today, 826michigan operates Liberty Street Robot Supply & Repair in Ann Arbor, the Detroit Robot Factory in the city’s Eastern Market neighborhood, and dozens of writing and tutoring programs in venues across Ann Arbor, Detroit, and Ypsilanti. 826michigan students—all 4,000 of them—write poems and essays, stories and plays in field trips, in-classroom residencies, drop-in writing programs in public library branches, and much more. The organization has a staff of 11 and a diverse, vibrant volunteer corps of 500+ adults across southeastern Michigan.

  826 BOSTON

  826 Boston opened its doors to the Greater Boston Bigfoot Research Institute in 2007. Working with traditionally underserved students ages 6–18 out of its headquarters in the Roxbury neighborhood of Egleston Square, as well as through a network of full-time Writers’ Rooms located within Boston public schools, 826 Boston has served 19,000 students. Its community of more than 2,500 volunteers—including college students, professional writers, artists, and teachers—helped 826 Boston secure a “Best Places to Volunteer” distinction from the Boston Globe. Recent collections of 826 Boston student writing include I Rate Today A –1,000, inspired by Jeff Kinney’s Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, and Attendance Would Be 100%: Student Proposals for High School Redesign Boston.

  826 DC

  826 DC opened its doors to the city’s Columbia Heights neighborhood in October 2010. 826DC provides after-school tutoring, field trips, workshops, in-school publishing programs, help for English language learners, and assistance with the publication of student work. It also offers the District its only magic shop—Tivoli’s Astounding Magic Supply Company, Illusionarium & De-Lux Haberdashery—right in the heart of the city. In 2016, 826DC students crafted personal narratives and college admission essays at the White House in collaboration with First Lady Michelle Obama’s Reach Higher initiative.

  About ScholarMatch

  Founded in 2010 by author Dave Eggers, ScholarMatch began as a simple crowdfunding platform to help under-resourced students pay for college. In just a few short years, ScholarMatch grew into a thriving hub for all things college access. Today, we support the college journeys of more than 1,500 students each year. We serve students at our San Francisco drop-in center, at local schools and organizations, and online through a virtual college coaching initiative. We also pioneer innovative resources like the ScholarMatcher—the first free college search tool built specifically with the needs of low-income students in mind.

  Our mission is to make college possible for underserved youth by matching students with donors, resources, and colleges. More than 70 percent of ScholarMatch students are the first in their families to go to college, and on average come from families making $28,000 or less annually. With the support of donors, volunteers, schools, and community organizations, we ensure that college is possible for underserved students in the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond. To support a student’s college journey or learn more, visit scholarmatch.org.

  Visit www.hmhco.com to find all of the books in The Best American Series®.

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  Footnotes

  *A gay University of Wyoming student who was brutally tortured and murdered in 1998. His death led to significant hate crime legislation.

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