Description: "The first decades of the twenty-first century have witnessed a blossoming of creative nonfiction. In this extraordinary collection, Phillip Lopate gathers essays by forty-seven of America's best contemporary writers, mingling long-established eminences with newer voices and making room for a wide variety of perspectives and styles. The Contemporary American Essay is a monument to a remarkably adaptable form and a treat for anyone who loves fantastic writing"--
Review Quotes: "What's marvelous is the way Lopate's anthologies . . . manage to be not only comprehensive monuments of deep expertise, but such continuously fresh and thrilling reading companions." --Jonathan Lethem, author of The Feral Detective
"Phillip Lopate is one of the most brilliant and original essayists now working." --Louise Glück, winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature