Rating: 
Summary: He got it on
Review: "Hubcap Diamondstar Halo" is a lyric from a T Rex song, Marc Bolan's biggest hit (well until he drove into that tree in his mini). Oh, great collection, by the way. Damn, you Americans, it used to be that only us Brits could do this sort of stuff!
Rating:
Summary: A heartbreaking compilation of staggering genius
Review: As a English, Philosophy, and Physics major at Boston College of the selected demographic for The Best American Non-Required Reading (I'm under 25)--I've found the material in the book highly pertinent to me. I would recommend this book for anyone who enjoyed Dave Eggers's A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius. From Eggers's introduction beginning with a short story excerpted from his latest, You Shall Know Our Velocity, about late-night skinny dipping in pools across town, to the final innovative short story "Please Don't Kill the Freshman" by Zoe Trope, this truly is the best American non-required reading. This book features a stunning range of subject and focus from the powerfully informative "Naji's Taliban Phase" from The New York Times Magazine to "Local Hipster Overexplaining Why He Was at the Mall" from The Onion, which, by the way, reminded me of some of my old friends from high school. Continuing with this humor, "'Jiving' with Your Teen" is probably one of the funniest things I've ever read, and I'm sure that it would appeal to older people too. I showed my friend who was interested in this book, "My Fake Job," based on a true story about the capriciousness of the dot-com era, in which a man occupies a cubicle at this downsizing dot-com company he pretendingly, but didn't actually work at, and my friend would not put the book down. But the book does have many serious stories and articles such as "Snacks" about dealing with weight and body image, and "The Lost Boys" and "Toil and Temptation" about the troubles of immigration to the US and finding good work, for Sudanese refugees and impoverished Mexicans, respectively. The compilation does have a couple weak points, such as with the "Journal of a New COBRA Recruit," which is supposed to be funny in it's parody of the senselessness of military service, but ends up going on a bit too long with the same joke and being a bit.... And also, the comic "Bomb Scare" at first caught my attention as a realistic account of high school life, but it ended up just being a clichéd story about a picked-on kid receiving sympathy from a popular girl who wants to change her partying lifestyle. But other than these two, there are twenty other short stories and articles that are dynamite. Just reading the beginning of "Marilyn Manson Now Going Door-to-Door Trying to Shock People" will have you laughing like you've never laughed before and hooked on this book. With The Best American Nonrequired Reading, Dave Eggers (with the help of Michael Cart) has put together a dynamic collection impressed with his singular, ingeniously witty personality.
Rating:
Summary: NOT ONLY FOR YOUNGER AUDIENCES
Review: Editor Dave Eggers explains that this inaugural edition of THE BEST AMERICAN NONREQUIRED READING 2002 is targeted for 15 to 25-year-olds. However, I can testify that individuals outside this predetermined age bracket can also gain enjoyment from this book. The wide variety of stories ranging from fiction to nonfiction satisfied me and kept me turning the pages. I enjoyed a great majority of the stories and only disliked two (which is rather remarkable considering that short story compilations seem to contain an equal share of winners and losers, in my own opinion.) The journalistic entries were phenomenal and shed light on current events such as methamphetamine addiction in Asia, undocumented Mexican laborers in NYC, and Afghanistan soldiers fighting their civil war. Some of the comical pieces made me laugh out laugh such as "The Fourth Angry Mouse" and "My Fake Job" and The Onion entries were also notable (I'm already a fan of that publication.) Sure, there were some stories intended for a 15 to 25-year-old audience but I could still relate even though it's been a decade since graduating high school. Who can forget what it's like during those delicate years? Overall, I very much enjoyed this book and will be looking forward to the 2003 edition.
Rating:
Summary: He got it on
Review: I enjoyed most of the work in this compilation. I sort of wonder what the heck it was compiled for, but I I'm glad it was, since I would never have come across any of this stuff otherwise. Favorites include Rodney Rotham's hilarious "My Fake Job" and "The Nice New Radicals" by Seth Mnookin, a piece which I might argue SHOULD be required for some people. Eric Schlosser's "Why McDonald's Fries Taste So Good" was fascinating, but I seem to be the only person on the planet who hasn't already read his work. Many pieces discuss certain cultural struggles: good pieces, but why so many? One piece is "graphic" in both meanings of the word. I am glad it is included, if only to act as a precedent for other compilations. The only notably awful work is "Hubcap Diamondstar Halo" which is as difficult as its title. And even though most of the pieces were engaging, few of them have remained with me. Maybe you should get this book if you like magazines, but not enough to actually subscribe to them. Maybe you should get it if you have a short attention span, like me. Or maybe you shouldn't get it. Don't worry, it's not required.
Rating: 
Summary: If I were in charge, I wouldn't require it either.
Review: I enjoyed most of the work in this compilation. I sort of wonder what the heck it was compiled for, but I I'm glad it was, since I would never have come across any of this stuff otherwise. Favorites include Rodney Rotham's hilarious "My Fake Job" and "The Nice New Radicals" by Seth Mnookin, a piece which I might argue SHOULD be required for some people. Eric Schlosser's "Why McDonald's Fries Taste So Good" was fascinating, but I seem to be the only person on the planet who hasn't already read his work. Many pieces discuss certain cultural struggles: good pieces, but why so many? One piece is "graphic" in both meanings of the word. I am glad it is included, if only to act as a precedent for other compilations. The only notably awful work is "Hubcap Diamondstar Halo" which is as difficult as its title. And even though most of the pieces were engaging, few of them have remained with me. Maybe you should get this book if you like magazines, but not enough to actually subscribe to them. Maybe you should get it if you have a short attention span, like me. Or maybe you shouldn't get it. Don't worry, it's not required.
Rating:
Summary: This book had me with the COBRA recruit's journal.
Review: I tend to shy away from compilations, but this one, with its quirky cover art and selections from several of my favorite authors, got my attention, kept me interested and kept me laughing all the way through it. "Bomb Scare," the comic book included inside alongside essays on McDonald's fries, the Onion article on Marilyn Manson, showed me that this was worthy of purchase. It's up there with the work of Daniel Clowes. But the true gem, to me, was the COBRA-centered journal. Immediately, the book brought me back to the days of playing with my GI Joes and reminded me that, even then when I was 11, I wondered how on earth you could fund your own private army to do battle with a United States elite force. In addition, the journal explains why members of COBRA Command never knew how to shoot a gun and why they all wore masks. It was excellent. Thanks, Dave Eggers. And go Joe!
Rating: 
Summary: Good, but much worse than the '03 edition
Review: If you're trying to decide between this book and the '03 edition, get the '03. This one's good, but contains far too many magazine articles and not enough fiction. The stories it does feature are mostly very short and pack nowhere near the punch of the '03 selections.
Rating:
Summary: Eclectic and Powerful Collection
Review: Some highlights of this collection are: Higher Education, the profile of Reese Perry, an African American high school basketball coach who shows up in an all-white midwest small town and, through his altruistic love, transforms them from prejudiced tribalists to open-minded cosmopolitans, a heart-breaking essay. Bomb Scare, a graphic or comic book style story of a high school where all the kids and their parents lack a moral compass and surrender to nihilism, the inability to transcend their self-centeredness. Why McDonald's French Fries Taste So Good, an excerpt from Fast Food Nation, which explains how the food industry uses sinister science to secretly make us addicted to the chemicals the food companies put in our food. Stop That Girl, a short story about a ten-year-old girl whose mother marries a rich man and ends up in a False Eden where playing house leaves her feeling abandoned and unloved. My Fake Job, an essay in which Rodney Rothman simply walks into a tech office and feigns being an employee, an act of charlatinism that isn't questioned by anyone at the office, casting light on how these fly-by-night business operations are so disjointed and full of isolated employees who suffer so much transience and alienation as the employers don't commit to them in the slightest. Toil and Temptation, an essay about a Mexican immigrant who slowly gets caught up in consumerism and becomes more of a slave in America than he ever was in Mexico.
Rating:
Summary: A great compilation
Review: The Best American NonRequired reading is a compilation of short stories drawn from a variety of magazines and small presses such as The Onion, Sports Illustrated and The New Yorker. The topics range from humor (such as Rodney Rothman's "My fake Job" where he pretends to be an employee of an internet company and manages to blend in by using an empty desk and having his friends make fake business calls to his phone) to serious journalism (such as Michael Finkel's "Naji's Taliban Phase" the story of a Taliban soldier's defect to the Northern Alliance in Afghanistan after 9/11). It even includes a graphic piece ("Bomb Scare" by Adrian Tomine). Over all it is a great book, all the stories are well written and interesting. It will have you cracking up at one moment and then gasping in disbelief in another.
Rating:
Summary: Memories
Review: The problem with some of these collections is that many of us who read magazines have already read those articles that appear in these end of year collections. The piece about Marilyn Manson was also in the Jonathan Lethem music collection too. It's good that Eggers has included some stuff for McSweeneys.net, comic books, and other non-mainstream sources. Those are usually the better ones anyway. I like Marc Bolan too.
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