2008 Woodie Awards
'New American Essays' New Letters magazine
Off the Shelve
Jonathan Pearson
Issue date: 1/17/06 Section: Culture
- Page 1 of 2 next >
|
I believe I have finally found a book that removes all of the unnecessary time it takes to read a forlorn tale or satirical masterpiece. No more highly structured stories with portions of a story only meant to add length to a book and not much else.
New Letters magazine last month published its first-ever issue of "New American Essays." The essays in this brand-new collection are those deemed the best published within the last two decades and are truly something to behold.
No more lengthy Stephen King novels for me-I prefer these essays, which get straight to the point. Nothing excites me more than being able to get through an author's memoir or a political editorial without having to crank up the stereo and drink all the caffeine I can just to stay awake.
Many of the essays contained here are the personal memoirs; an author dealing with different cultures, family or even the danger of censorship when trying to maintain freedom of speech.
Two essays are particularly important to acknowledge.
Janet Burroway's essay "Soldier Son" is a recollection of her son years before he commits suicide. His death, which influences the reader to seriously consider terrorism and war, is never discussed at length; she prefers only to remember all the interesting things that make him up rather than dwell on an untimely death.
His views politically are different than hers, but they are tolerant of one another and their love couldn't be stronger. Burroway humorously writes in one paragraph, "If I had an identikit to construct a child, is this the child I'd make? No, no way. Would I trade this child for that one? No, no way." Despite his overzealous love for heroics (which contributes to his suicide), she loves him and wouldn't trade him for the world.
William H. Gass has a very witty but real viewpoint of censorship (among other topics) in "The Trapezoidal Mind." This inclusive view of censorship includes all that surrounds us, not just print material.
