This Is My Best: Great Writers Share Their Favorite Work

by Kathy Kiernan

Book Overview

We all have our favorite pieces by our beloved writers. But what do they think is their own best work? Inspired by an acclaimed collection published in 1942, the editors at the Quality Paperback Book... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0811848299
• ISBN13: 9780811848299
• Release Date: May 2005
• Publisher: Chronicle Books
• Length: 448 Pages
• Weight: 1.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.7" x 5.6" x 8.2"

Customer Reviews

Enchanting

As a busy Mom this book is just what the doctor ordered! I have a bad habit of only reading self help, child developement and non-fiction books. This book introduced me to great authors from way back ( & current ones) I've heard of but haven't lately felt right about taking the time away from daily duties to indulge myself. I find myself craving this book for more adventures of the mind and spirit. I've learned things about my world I had no idea existed. I would elaborate and list them but I have yet to finish the book and couldn't just pick even a few. I laugh, I cry, I yearn for more with this amazing book. It's my favorite one ever! What a great gift this book would make for the avid reader. Also, indeed the authors introduction of each piece is just as delicious as the actual story as mentioned in the first review.

Varied, interesting, and lengthened my to-read list!

This book contains short works by over 50 authors -- works that for whatever reason, they consider their best. The choice of authors is very varied, from Scott Adams to Scott Turow to Arther Miller to Barbara Kingsolver to Anne Tyler. Some authors I had heard of, others not. The selections ranged from poems to cartoons to short stories to excerpts from novels. While the quality of the entries was uniformly good, I personally didn't like every selection, but that's only natural, of course. Some favorites: Scott Adams' Dilbert selection, T. Coraghessan Boyle's short story about a couple with acquisition disorders, Laurie Garrett's poignant and fascinating tale of Tay-Sachs disease in Cajun country, and Dan Rhodes' weird paragraph-long stories about fictional former girlfriends. I liked many of the other stories, too, so much so that the authors who wrote them are now on my to-read list. Almost as interesting as the selections themselves were the forewords to each selection by the author explaining why he or she selected the piece. If you don't want to expand your horizons and your to-read list, definitely pass this book up. But if you do, read it and enjoy it as you would a sampler platter at your favorite restaurant. It is truly a collection to be savored.