The Best American Essays 2025: A Premier Showcase of Critically Acclaimed Personal Essays, Selected by Renowned Essayist Jia Tolentino

by Jia Tolentino, Kim Dana Kupperman

A collection of the year’s best essays, selected by critically acclaimed author and essayist, Jia Tolentino.

The Best American series, launched in 1915, is the premier annual showcase for the country’s finest short fiction and nonfiction, and it is the most respected—and most popular—of its kind.

Jia Tolentino, critically acclaimed essayist, editor, and New Yorker staff writer, selects twenty essays out of thousands that represent the best examples of the form published the previous year.

Genres: Essays, Nonfiction, Audiobook

352 pages, Paperback

First published October 21, 2025

Reviews

[april ☔]

picked this up because i love everything jia tolentino ever does and also am trying to read more variety in essays rather than sticking to single author collections. my reading tastes are so voice-based that i’m not sure if that was the move—some of these were very good, but others i wish could’ve been replaced with tolentino essays as i think she would’ve done a better job—but nevertheless i think it was worthwhile to see the range of subjects, styles, and structures in here and to have many different ideas to ponder and learn about! particular favorites:
- aziza’s “the work of the witness”—tight, well-crafted, with a smart neat turn at the end that ties it all together; personal and compelling and challenges the reader, everything an essay should be
- alexis pauline gumbs’ “sea grape consciousness”—a reminder that a good essay can still be told in lovely prose, a reminder that the essay is a particularly adept form for tying together varying fields through a central thread
- eula biss, “love and murder in south africa”—such a precisely yet naturally crafted and structured essay, you see in this one why she is such a master at this
- mosab abu toha’s “the pain of travelling while palestinian”—a lot of people probably read this when it came out, and if they didn’t, should; tolentino describes best why this is such an excellent essay: “what I admired was its control, its aperture.”
- namwali serpell, “navel-gazing”—UGHHHHH i just love a smart, well-researched, well-written, well-argued essay. this was pretty perfect to me.
- jarek steele’s “nesting”—i like that this focused less on arguing a thesis or presenting research, and really just on narrative, which was a beautiful narrative
- laura preston, “an age of hyperabundance”—didn’t expect an essay about AI to grip me at every turn, but preston did it. a straightforward structure but compellingly written, letting her ironic turns do the work of driving forward her opinions before she takes over the closing argument with decisive prose

[Edie · Rating 5 out of 5]

It feels like the essay is a dying art. Not that people aren't writing fantastic essays. This collection is proof they are. But as a reader, it has become familiar and comfortable to consume information and opinions in small, bite sized pieces. The essay gives writers space to craft something beautiful and thought-provoking. It provides room for nuance. I might not always agree with the author, but I can see how they got from here to there. The essay allows the reader to spend time with a concept, not scroll to the next thing but sit in any discomfort. Or wonder. I might not have enjoyed every essay but, like eating my veggies, I suspect they were all good for me. I appreciate the work which went into collecting and editing this year's volume. The narrators were carefully chosen for each piece. Thank you to everyone involved in crafting this fascinating collection of essays and NetGalley for the audioARC.

Every time I read one of these installments, I am reminded of how very much I enjoy them. I have been processing so many ideas with friends & family while reading, they probably feel like they read it too. Not only did I discover new writers, I also found new publications to explore. This was a lovely experience. It forced me to concentrate for an extended period of time. It introduced me to ideas and situations outside of my echo chamber. I was entertained in a meaningful way, like the difference between a deep conversation and small talk. I enjoy both but it seems easier to engage in small talk and skip the harder but ultimately more meaningful dialogues.

[Theresa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Typically, most essays in the annual Best American collection easily hold my interest and provide plenty of wisdom or entertainment, sometimes both. This year's collection, to my surprise, was somewhat of a slog.

The best ones were slices of memoir: "The Pain of Traveling While Palestinian" by Mosab Abu Toha; "A Little Slice of the Moon" by Summer Hammond, about breaking away from her Jehovah's Witnesses family; and "How to Love Animals" by Matthew Denton-Edmundson, about what he learned while raising goats.

Too many, including "On Boredom" and "Within the Pretense of No Pretense" read like academic research papers with a word count to reach.

[Kelly · Rating 2 out of 5]

Though a few of the essays were quite good, most were very focused on some current issue, dealing with Gaza, Palistinean issues, or other atrocities. Not much enjoyable reading.

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jia Tolentino deserves accolades for choosing such a diverse selection of essays that explore what the essay can be. From nonfiction short stories to pure think pieces and musings on current events (thankfully not too many), it's all here. Most of all the editors deserve praise for selecting some pieces that were either difficult or not easily likable. There was only one piece I disliked (Im not telling) but I was very pleased to read selections that I know others will dislike. I enjoyed this as much as any of the "Best American" series I have read.

[James Agger · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jia Tolentino remains one of the sharpest cultural critics we have, and she brings that same frightening lucidness to her role as editor here. I will literally read anything JT has her fingerprints on!

In past years, the “Best American” series can feel a bit like a grab bag. The selections are often technically proficient writing that doesn't always hang together. But Tolentino has curated this with a very specific, cohesive architectural logic. It feels less like a "greatest hits" of 2025 and more like a diagnostic manual for how to think clearly in an age of epistemic collapse.

The introduction alone is worth the price of the book. It’s a brilliant defense of the essay not as "content," but as a necessary space for hesitation and complexity. As for the selections, Jia avoids the trap of picking "hot takes" and instead favors pieces that have a lasting, textured interiority.

If you've felt like your brain has been flattened by the internet, social media, and doomscrolling this year, this collection is the antidote. Essential.

[Em · Rating 3 out of 5]

This collection has an appropriate sense of urgency and intention compared to last year's which was offensive at worst, uncompelling at best. Toletino has done a great job centering voices from Palestine and managing to include some voices that are quite radical. This year's collection also contains a trans essayist and does not have any radical feminist concern trolling. Reader's who dislike collections that weigh entirely towards personal essays will also be happy to hear the collection has a good chunk of purely academic essays. Sadly, the collection does feel sharply divided in terms of quality. The latter half has a much more out of touch, neoliberal feeling to it. Maybe it's Tolentino trying to include a diversity of thought, or Kupperman's influence, or some other factor, but I found some of the closing essays so vapid and irritating that it soured my feelings on the collection overall.
The Work of the Witness, Gone for a Spell, The Pain of Travelling While Palestinian, and An Age of Hyperabundance were all favorites of mine. Within the Pretense of No Pretense and Respect, the Missing Relation were both so bad that I was shocked they were presented alongside the rest of the collection. "Pretense" fails to pin down what is irritating about anti-intellectualism and instead posits some grand past which was more honest (read: meaner) that we only have to return to. "Respect" is a centrist rant straight out of 2016, where the author is happy to share his own open critiques of leftist academics while disparaging them for not tolerating all opposition silently with a big smile on their faces. The essay presents the old cliche of tolerating nazis as part of our democracy, but it falls even flatter when the nazis are in office, demonstrating what they do when offered tolerance. The essay contains every "enlightened centrist" cliche in its most irritating form. These two essays share an eccentricity with the similarly messy Literature Without Literature (an essay that presents valid critiques of a specific academic, but stretches those critiques as if they apply to all materialist analysis of publishing and the myth of the auteur as a concept) which is that they all seem distrustful of fields like psychology and sociology and attribute some negative social influence to them. None of them cite a source for the ways in which therapy supposedly turns us into eternal children or annoying SJWs. In fact, all three essays make grand claims about social trends that I would definitely like to hear a source for! Ending the collection on an essay that claims Californians are not as willing to help others as the supposed pure and kind country folk, who will help you no matter what (as a southerner, yeah right) and takes it as not just a fact, but a fact I'm supposed to care about in the face of genocide and looming authoritarianism highlighted by other essays seems insane to me. Surely there was a better essay defending opposing viewpoint? I mean, I already know there were, some of them are included in the collection!
Still, the collection isn't bad overall. I can at least suggest the first half of it. But the bad mixed in reminds me that Best American Essays is always going to advocate a very American form of individualism.

[Robert Yokoyama · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the essays in this book. The essays that touched me the most are the ones with themes about awareness and compassion. My favorite essay is "An Age of Hyperabundance". This essay raises my awareness to the different innovations in artificial intelligence. There is a voice program that detect a person's depression by using a 40 second clip of their voice. There is also an avatar that can keep me company and remind me when to take my medication. These are two innovations that I will probably use in the future. "Sharing The Darkness" is my other favorite. This essay raises my awareness of the war in the Ukraine, and how and the war affects other people. There is a beautiful poem in this essay entitled "If There Is Ink". This is a beautiful poem about the power of the written word can bring about peace in a country ruined by war.

"Man Crossing An Ice Field" is an essay that raises my compassion for people suffering from Alzheimer disease. Alzheimer disease takes such an emotional toll on every member of this man's family. Man Crossing An Ice Field reminds me that Alzheimer disease can strike young men too. "A Little Slice of The Moon" raises my compassion for people who suffer from seizures. "A Little Slice of The Moon" is an essay about a young woman who is striving to hold down a job and have a social life. I work with people who suffer from seizures every day, so I can relate the feelings and frustrations expressed in this essay. "How To Love Animals" raises my compassion for animals. A greater understanding of animal suffering leads to more humane behavior by people is the thesis of this essay, and I think that is an excellent message. I love all the essays in this book.

[Bill · Rating 4 out of 5]

As can often be the case with collections, The Best American Essays 2025 varies a bit in the impact of each, though the quality of the writing itself is consistently high across the board. Given that high level of writing craft, the book is an easy recommendation. How much you respond to the essays on a different level will be much more subjective.

For me, barring some exceptions, the essays were generally more straightforward, more directly and lineally structured, and more “here’s what happened” or journalistic than I personally prefer in the essay form. I tend to prefer essays that are more introspective, that meander and digress, that aim at more lyricism and those were too few and far between here even as I admired the writing craft and found many of the essays interesting and just a few so straightforward as to be a bit dull. There are a number of political essays in here and while they didn’t do much for me stylistically, they were strong in content. A few of my favorites in the collection:

“Within the Pretense of No Pretense”: a bit over-long but one of the few essays that played with structure and rhythm

“An Age of Hyperabundance” This one is journalistic as it relates the author’s attendance as a “contrarian” speaker at a conference on AI communication, but it’s self-aware narration and wider context leaves you thoughtful at its closed

“How to Love Animals” a good mix of outside references and personal experience and thought on our relationship with the creatures we share the world and our homes with

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

My two favorites this year:
Gone for a Spell by Angie Romines, about the Frontier Nursing Service in Kentucky
The Age of Hyperabundance by Laura Preston, about being the contrarian speaker at an AI conference (I am very excited about her forthcoming book on AI that is promised in the credits!)

Also:
The Pain of Travelling While Palestinian by Mosab Abu Toha - I had read this before but I really admire the matter-of-fact tone juxtaposed with the enraging content
Man Crossing an Ice Field by Laura Glen Louis - I actually didn't love the writing style here but I am very interested in Alzheimer's and its effect on families
Corona by John Jeremiah Sullivan - I was just happy because I hadn't read anything by him in a while
The Olive Branch of Oblivion by Linda Kinstler - this was timely and had an argument that I'd never encountered before
Nesting by Jarek Steele - the details in this personal essay were amazing

[Sydney Jenkin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting and timely collection of essays. At first, I thought that it lacked some range in topics discussed, as many of the first essays focused on similar ideas/issues. However, as I progressed through the collection, I grew to instead think that it was quite well-organized, with many essays connecting in some way to the prior one. These links were less obvious later in the collection but felt thoughtful throughout. I also thought there was a good variety of essays that were very specific to the current moment and global issues as well as ones that tackled broader and more universal topics.

My major qualms with the collection were that I felt it leant too heavily towards less digestible/approachable essays (not all or even most! but a decent number) and that some of the essays have lacked longevity for me.

Overall, I'm glad to have read this collection and feel that it did an excellent job of capturing the times we are living in. It also included a diversity of voices/perspectives while still having a clear focus/message.

Thank you to NetGalley and Mariner Books for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Weronika · Rating 5 out of 5]

This collection is what it advertises: the best essays published in a given year (I trust the editors on that, since I don't follow all the publications and I'm all the more grateful for this collection existing within one book!). They're diverse, with a range of themes and unique authors' voices: some of them personal, some of them concerning worlds' events. After one year, the latter ones read as if contemporary times got historicized in front of our eyes, with raw emotion. My favorite essay was Laura Glen Louis' "A Man Walking an Ice Field", a raw and moving essay about the authors' family struggle with the impact of Alzheimer's disease on both her husband and her & her son.

I thank Netgalley and Mariner Books for an opportunity to read this book and its ebook copy in exchange for an honest review.

[Cherryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

** Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing a digital ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review **
This year’s collection is a rich tapestry of personal reflection, cultural criticism, and sharp observation. The chapters move seamlessly from deeply personal memoir to wide-angle social commentary. I appreciated the editors’ choice to include essays that challenge as well as comfort, prompting me to think about familiar topics in new ways. The pacing of the anthology is thoughtful—lighter pieces give you a breather between heavier ones. Several essays stayed with me long after I finished, their language and ideas echoing in my mind. This is a volume worth savoring slowly.

[Sana · Rating 4 out of 5]

what a lovely way to end the reading year! i really enjoyed the concept of reading a collection of essays that serve as a reflection of the important topics and themes across multiple realms in 2025. i also really enjoyed reading jia tolentino's foreword and how she went about curating the essays for this collection. my favorite essays were: gone for a spell by angie romines, man crossing an ice field by laura glen louis, and an age of hyperabudance by laura preston.

[Angela · Rating 3 out of 5]

Waffled between a 2 and 3 here, but ultimately I landed on a 3 despite the inconsistency of some of the essays.

I think the editors of the book may have just been looking for something different than I was, but some of the essays felt so slow and almost too technical and academically written to hold my interest (Within the Pretense of No Pretense, Navel-Gazing, Literature Without Literature). Still, there were some really compelling pieces as well, my favorites being The Pain of Travelling While Palestinian, A Little Slice of the Moon, Nesting, An Age of Hyperabundance, and How to Love Animals.

[Jennie Doss · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an emotional and powerful collection of essays. Work and reflections like these are so important for the times that we are living in. Viscerally human, I laughed and cried while listening. It left you feeling more connected to those from other walks of life in the best and hardest ways. I’m recommending reading or listening to this to everyone I know.

[Jordan Gilbert · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 - Overall I thought this was really good! Some of the essays I loved and others I ended up almost skimming because I wasn't vibing with at all, but such is often the case with an anthology. I thought the breadth of essays were good, though the few about writing/reading seemed a bit off (and whiny).

[Iris (Yi Youn) Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

picked this one up because of jia tolentino and sarah aziza! i appreciated that she included a few essays by Palestinian authors. some of the essay selections got dense and boring towards the end so I skimmed over them. mostly lovely and thought-provoking though, especially the n+1 essay on conversational AI by Laura Preston!

[Taylor Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Favorite was “Within the Pretense of No Pretense.” I also really enjoyed “The Work of the Witness,” “Sea Grape Consciousness,” “Man Crossing an Ice Field,” “The Pain of Traveling While Palestinian,” “A Little Slice of the Moon,” “On Boredom,” and “Respect, or the Missing Relation.”

[Gabby · Rating 2 out of 5]

Honestly I read this because I will read anything with Jia Tolentino’s name on it but these essays are largely meh.

[Tessy Consentino · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing selection of essays!

[George Klein]

A Little Slice of the Moon and An Age of Hyperabundane stood out to me

[Emily Chase · Rating 5 out of 5]

I luv Jia

[Marina · Rating 2 out of 5]

Started off much stronger than it ended. Some standouts:

Sharing the Darkness
Gone for a Spell
Homeland Fictions
Love and Murder in South Africa
A Little Slice of the Moon

[Arathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

it's very difficult reviewing essay collections, but i do agree that these are some very good essays. as a whole, this made me so uncomfortable and made me think. even if I disagreed with some essays, I knew they were compelling, just not what i think is right. some were very hard to read because of stylistic choices, others because of the emotional content. but stellar overall.

thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.