The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2019: Stories, Essays, and Comics Curated by Students―Featuring Viet Thanh Nguyen, Charles Johnson, and More

by 826 National

An eclectic collection of fiction, essays, poetry, and graphic work selected by high school students with the help of New York Times best-selling author Edan Lepucki. 

Over the past year, a group of high school students have held weekly discussions in the basement conference room of a publishing house in San Francisco. Tasked with finding the best, most revealing, honest, and astonishing writing of the last twelve months, they pored over hundreds of published poems, stories, comics, and essays. With the help of guest editor Edan Lepucki, they selected the contents of this anthology, a collection of work they feel looks a lot like 2019. The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2019 features comics about war and butts and stories about pizza-delivery women, family, dolls giving birth, anthropomorphic lakes, and more. It was a successful year. Read on to see for yourself.
 
The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2019 includes Viet Thanh Nguyen, Charles Johnson, Robin Coste Lewis, Garth Greenwell, Nathaniel Russell, Britteney Black Rose Kapri, Andrea Long Chu, Deborah Taffa, Renée Branum, and others.
 

Hill country / Patricia Sammon --
Follow the drinking gourd / Charles Johnson --
Curse for the American dream / Jane Wong--
Barbarians at the gate / Matthew Hongoltz-Hetling--
I worked with Avital Ronell. I believe her accuser/ Andrea Long Chu--
Holton Arms class of 1984. to the United States Congress--
Diagnosis in reverse / Kate Gaskin--
On true war stories/ Viet Thanh Nguyen--
The frog king / Garth Greenwell--
Child A / Emily Rinkema--
As the sparks fly upward / Renee Branum--
Arabic lesson / Latifa Ayad --
Barbara from Florida/ Maddy Raskulinecz--
It's natural (selected comics)/ Nathaniel Russell --
Our Belgian wife / Uche Okonkwo--
Self-care / Robin Coste Lewis --
The brothers Aguayo/ Devin Gordon --
Naked and vulnerable, the rest is circumstance / Sylvia Chan --
Spring / Mikko Harvey --
The babyland diaries / Angela Garbes --
Two poems / Britteney Black Rose Kapri--
The Gettysburg Address (sound translations 1 and 2 / Keith Donnell Jr. --
Almost Human / Deborah Taffa --
Macho / Margaret Ross --
The lake and the onion / David Drury

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Essays, Collections, Poetry, Anthologies

272 pages, Paperback

Published October 1, 2019

Reviews

[Tess Malone · Rating 3 out of 5]

I haven’t read one of these straight through in ages, and it speaks to the variety and quality of the work that it pulled me in. However, toward the end, it started feeling like I was reading an obscure lit journal more than stories with a real heart. I prefer this series when it’s a mix of fiction of and nonfiction, but this year’s was mostly short stories. Still there were a few standouts like Patricia Sammon’s Hill Country and David Drury’s The Lake and the Onion.

[Patrick Probably DNF · Rating 3 out of 5]

I must be getting old. Or the bar for excellence is sinking lower. This year's collection of teenage-committee-chosen BANR is slim (only 25 entries, including poetry and graphic novel excerpts) and the list of honorable mentions isn't much thicker (35). Which has me scratching my head. There's no shortage of mind-blowing writing in the world, as evidenced by three pieces in this volume: "Hill Country" by Patricia Sammon, "Barbara from Florida" by Maddy Raskulinecz, and "The Brothers Aguayo" by Devin Gordon. But can a team of high school students really recognize greatness when they see it? My answer is a firm: "Sometimes."

[Laura Jean · Rating 4 out of 5]

The selections from Andrea Long Chu, Devin Gordon, Deborah Taffa, and David Druey are unmissable.

“Injustice is when someone privileged like me, someone who has reaped the benefits of electricity and national security, turns around and vilifies a poor indigenous man for taking the only job he had available to him.” -Almost Human (Taffa)

“We lower our voices to match the lights and breath one another’s air and write into the carpet with our fingers, What is all this magic?” -The Lake and the Onion (Drury)

[Lauren Dandridge · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some of my favorites are:
The Brothers Aguayo by Devin Gordon
Naked and Vulnerable, the Rest is Circumstance by Sylvia Chan
The BabyLand Diaries by Angela Garbes
Two Poems by Britteney Black Rose Kapri

Not every piece wowed me, but it’s interesting to think about why the editors chose each one. Teenagers are fascinating creatures, and I enjoy thinking about their experience with and interpretation of American culture.

[Jen H · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid collection with a couple of stories that moved me deeply,

[Marti · Rating 3 out of 5]

I saw a blurb about the Nonrequired Reading books and found 2019 at my local library. I would like to pursue this annual publication.

[Aaron · Rating 3 out of 5]

Solid collection, albeit shorter and a bit more hit or miss than usual from piece to piece. But I still really enjoyed the feeling of being obliged to read everything (despite it being nonrequired in name!). The pieces that most captivated me were:

Barbearians at the Gate by Matthew Hongoltz Hetling
Barbara from Florida by Maddy Raskulinecz
Almost Human by Deborah Taffa
The Lake and the Onion by David Drury

The first three of those tell compelling stories, more or less in familiar ways. They are the type of story I would hope to encounter in any collection of prose, and I am eager to hear more from each writer. Drury's short story, however, reveals a singular voice in my experience of written work, somewhere between poetry, prose and avant garde humor. I can't recommend it highly enough for something new and different to read. The story itself is so-so, but I was really entertained by the telling.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

I try to obtain and read this particular collection every year, because it is curated by teenagers and always has an interesting mix of many different types of writing, all compelling in some way. The 2019 volume did not disappoint. Some of my favorites this year:

- "Hill Country" (Patricia Sammon)
- "Follow the Drinking Gourd" (Charles Johnson)
- "Barbearians at the Gate" (Matthew Hongoltz-Hetling)
- "Child A" (Emily Rinkema)
- "Barbara from Florida" (Maddy Raskulinecz)
- "The Brothers Aguayo" (Devin Gordon)—SPORTS writing. Who am I??
- "Two Poems" (Britteney Black Rose Kapri)
- "The Lake and the Onion" (David Drury)

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

My favorite pieces from this collection:

+Patricia Sammon - Hill Country
+Charles Johnson - Follow the Drinking Gourd
+Kate Gaskin - Diagnosis in Reverse
+Viet Thanh Nguyen - On True War Stories
+Garth Greenwell - The Frog King
+Emily Rinkema - Child A
+Renee Branum - As The Sparks Fly Upward
+Maddy Raskulinecz - Barbara From Florida
+Robin Coste Lewis - Self Care
+Sylvia Chan - Naked and Vulnerable, the Rest is Circumstance
+Britteney Black Rose Kapri - Two Poems
+David Drury - the Lake and the Onion

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

1. I love this series and have read every one since 2005.
2. I was disappointed that this year’s anthology was about 100 pages short of previous editions.
3. The introduction by editor Edan Lepucki is terrible, as if she doesn’t read very much or has never met a teenager.
4. Less creative nonfiction than usually appears in BANR.
5. All that said, the selections in the 2019 BANR anthology are all solid, interesting, and occasionally inspiring.

[Brittany · Rating 3 out of 5]

How I Came to Read It: I picked it up randomly in NYC, intrigued by the cover and concept.

The Plot: Unbeknownst to me until I picked this up, this is a series that has been happening for years! Every year a group of high school students gets together and reads a bunch of stuff and picks their faves which go into this book which supports a youth writing organization. Very cool concept as the inclusions are random! Magazine articles, essays, poems, short stories, graphic novel excerpts, and more off the beaten path things like a “sound recording” of the Gettysburg address (like a proto bad lip reading) and a letter written by Christine Blasey Fords classmates. It was like reading an insane literary journal curated by teens.

The Good & Bad: What I liked was the prologue by the editor, Edan Lepucki, where she detailed the process to select the stories, and pointed out that there was not a unanimous pick in the entire book, which I dug. I treated this as I did any magazine - If it didn’t catch my attention, I skipped over it after giving it a good try.

A few honorable mentions - I liked the quiet sadness of the opening story Hill Country. The lengthy but sharp and wry take on libertarian politics being disrupted by bears in Barbearians at the Gate. The sizzling passion and strangeness of The Frog King. The glimpse of a life not documented in Barbara Florida. The bitter disappointment of Our Belgian Wife. And the funny juxtaposition of The Babyland Diaries...

There were others I liked, but those were a few faves. In all I dig this concept of a hodgepodge of things to read. Would recommend!

The Bottom Line: The sheer random lack of cohesion would probably bug some people but I liked it! A cool way to skip around through genre and form.

Anything Memorable?: No.

2020 Book Challenge: Book 9? In 2020

[Sophie Curran · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is an eclectic collection of stories with different messages and ideas. Each one calls to be thought about and analyzed for meaning. In short, this book is not a book to be read or taken lightly. All of these stories were interesting in their own way, and somehow provided an intellectual lens with which the reader could look at 2019. This book is not for the faint of heart, as it conjures ideas and makes you think. I will be honest and say that some of the stories I struggled to understand, and read more than once in a quest to puzzle out their meanings. This is a book for anyone at a high school reading level or higher, and would be fun for a book club.

[Giovanna Centeno · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would say 3.5. This book took me a while to get through, but I persisted cause I knew it would be important. Overall it is a good and diverse collection, you can find something here for everyone, but I have to say the second half is what really solidified my rating. The last 100 pages or so compile what to me where the best the collection had to offer. If you can read only one story, however, I urge to read Almost Human by Deborah Taffa! It was by far my favorite and the one that has stuck with me. Highly recommend if you love short stories and or are very interested in what our current literary scene has to offer.

[Grace · Rating 3 out of 5]

An intriguing collection of some of the best essays, stories, poetry, and visual media as determined by a group of teenagers hanging out in a basement in California. I read this straight through. Some pieces were a slog, but some were amazing:

1. Hill Country by Patricia Sammon
2. Follow the Drinking Gourd by Charles Johnson
3. Barbearians at the Gate by Matthew Hongoltz-Hetling
4. On True war Stories by Viet Thanh Nguyen
5. The Frog King by Garth Greenwell
6. Barbara from Florida by Maddy Raskulinecz
7. Our Belgian Wife by Uche Okonkwo
8. The Brothers Aguayo by Devin Gordon
9. Child A by Emily Rinkema
10. Naked and Vulnerable, the Rest is Circumstance by Sylvia Chan

[jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 stars— A nice little read that featured a fun variety of distinct characters and topics. While some writings stood out more than others, and the comics and poetry didn't strike me as anything overly special, I appreciated the diversity and originality of the stories. I discovered some new authors I'll definitely be looking into.

These were some of my favorites stories, in no particular order:
- Our Belgian Wife
- The Brothers Aguayo
- The Babyland Diaries
- Almost Human
- Barbara From Florida
- I Worked with Avita Ronnell. I Believe Her Accuser.
- As the Sparks Fly Upward

[Caleb Sommerville · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received this in a variety pack of summer reading from Wise Blood in KCMO. I would have otherwise not given this a second glance.
Some short stories in this were fantastic (the bear one, the gas station one, the kickers, the one about Randy), the poems were so-so (I couldn't even finish the Britteney Black Rose Kapri ones and it was only two pages), and some stories were just fine.
A weird collection of weird stuff, but I'm glad I read it. Onwards to expanding our horizons.

[Justine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this for my creative writing class and it did not disappoint. I was genuinely blown away by the genius and heart in each of these stories. Some of them were so heavy I just had to sit for a minute and take it all in once I finished. My personal favorites are Barbara From Florida, The Frog King, and As The Sparks Fly Upward. Great stories that really inspired me and made me appreciate the art of the short story.

[Susan Emmet · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just outstanding throughout. The 826 project and all the work of so many people is amazing.
So much depth and breadth to the array of voices - in fiction, poetry, memoir, graphic work - and I felt like I was learning outside-in.
Can't write full review now, but will add to this soon.
Remarkable anthology and project!

[Nuha · Rating 3 out of 5]

There's something precious and delicate about reading a collection of stories handpicked by a group of high school students from a basement in California. The stories spanning from a comic about butts to a heartwrenching story of foster care, might not always be the best or hold your interest. But the intent is captivating in and of itself.

[JillAnnette · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite part of reading this yearly collection is that these are teenagers anthologizing these works. And as I read through, each year, I like to imagine sitting in that basement with them, somewhere in the background where they can’t see me, just listening to them discuss literature with vehemence. (In my imagination the room is smoky, but that’s probably not accurate.)

[Bethany · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars rounded down. I went into this fairly blind and only read it to fulfill a book challenge, but I was very impressed by the selections and especially that it was curated by teenagers. Not everything appealed to me, but I could see myself reading other works by some of the individual writers and I wouldn't be opposed to reading editions published in other years.

[Smokey Cloud · Rating 4 out of 5]

20 years ago I moved across the country with the CD version of 2002's Best American Nonrequired Reading and it had a deep impact on me. To this day, I still recall so many of the stories. This 2019 version is a wonderful addition to the series, and feels like such a time capsule from the pre-CoVid world.

[Anthony O’Brien · Rating 4 out of 5]

A real curate’s egg, this one. Contains fragments to fully realised work. Worth reading if you don’t expect uniform excellence, and you enjoy a few pieces that would benefit from further work. Hint: the longer pieces aren’t always the best.

[Claire · Rating 2 out of 5]

That's an oof. I had a reeeally hard time getting through a few of the more experimental works, like The Gettysburg Address Sound Translations I and II. Like...why? But after reading The Babyland Diaries, I wanna see Mother Cabbage birth a Cabbage Patch doll.

[Little · Rating 3 out of 5]

Less to love this year than last, I think, but still a solid collection. I enjoyed "Child A" by Emily Rinkema and "Our Belgian Wife" by Uche Okonkwo. But the stand-out piece of the collection is Latifa Ayad's "Arabic Lesson."

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Always a mixed bag of traditional fiction, long-form essays, and other experimental stuff. Did I like all of the selections? Not really, but this was the point of the collection: to expose readers to something new, something they might not like.

[Carolyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not usually one for short stories or works, but this was great. Unbelievably diverse. I read one per weekend morning for a long time -- of course I connected with some more than others, but definitely recommend!

[Jennalynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

12/5/2020: This book is life changing. So many different perspectives. I will read it again in the future to understand it a second time as someone older and wiser than I am now. Some stories hit harder than others. The rest is circumstance.

[Carla · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a good mix of fiction, graphic novel, poety and essay as usual... the high school students who chose the entries in this series do a great job. Sadly, it appears that it may have been the last volume in the series as there was not a 2020 edition.

[Wilfred P. Labbe · Rating 1 out of 5]

What a waste of time.

I can clearly understand why this is nonrequired reading…it’s all about being on the right side of history, and reflects the loudest voices of the culture rather than wisest.