This remarkable anthology, The Next American Essay (Gray Wolf), presents a picture of what the American essay is, and what, with any luck, it may become. John D'Agata, a virtuoso of the essay, knows more than anyone else about it. Inserted throughout the anthology, his own funny, meandering essay-in-pieces manages to create the autobiography of an art form. With a guest reading by contributor David Foster Wallace.
Read an excerpt from The Next American Essay.