The Best American series is the premier annual showcase for the country’s finest short fiction and nonfiction. Each volume’s series editor selects notable works from hundreds of magazines, journals, and websites. The guest editor then chooses the best twenty or so pieces to publish. This unique system has made the Best American series the most respected – and most popular – of its kind.

This special e-book sampler contains eleven selections from the 2011 editions.

FromThe Best American Short Stories®edited by Geraldine Brooks:

Housewifely Artsby Megan Mayhew Bergman
Phantomsby Steven Millhauser

FromThe Best American Essays®edited by Edwidge Danticat:

Chapelsby Pico Iyer
There Are Things Awry Hereby Lia Purpura

FromThe Best American Mystery Storiesedited by Harlan Coben:

A Crime of Opportunityby Ernest J. Finney

FromThe Best American Science and Nature Writingedited by Mary Roach:

The Killer in the Poolby Tim Zimmermann, Jr.
The Whole Fracking Enchiladaby Sandra Steingraber

FromThe Best American Sports Writingedited by Jane Leavy:

The Surfing Savantby Paul Solotaroff
New Mike, Old Christineby Nancy Hass

FromThe Best American Travel Writingedited by Sloane Crosley:
 
My Year at Seaby Christopher Buckley
Miami Party Boomby Emily Witt

At some point in nearly every marriage, a wife finds herself asking,what is wrong with my husband’s brain?!In David Finch’s case, this turns out to be an apt question. Five years into his marriage, David and his wife Kristen learn that he has Asperger Syndrome, an autism spectrum condition characterized by egocentricity, unusual and sometimes repetitive behaviors, and impaired social reasoning. The diagnosis explains David’s life-long quirks, his difficulty socializing, and his need for things to go according to plan. But it doesn’t make him any easier to live with.

Determined to change that, David embarks on an ambitious journey to understand and rein in the symptoms of the disorder which have wreaked havoc on his marriage. With the analytical fervor typical of an Aspie and with Kristen’s patient help, David compiles a list of best practices—hard-won epiphanies that arise from fights, from self-reflection both comic and painful, and once from watching SportsCenter: “be her friend first and always,” “use words,” “thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s life,” and “laundry: better to fold and put away than to take only what you need from the dryer.” Over the course of two years, the Journal of Best Practices leads David to surprising insights, transforming him into a better husband, father, and all-around better guy… albeit one who sometimes quacks in public.