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What Members Thought
"Is This Kansas" annoyed the hell out of me (I understand from reading the notes why she took the approach she did but that doesn't mean I have to like it) however the rear of the essays are first-rate. Excellent style.
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Another great work of creative non-fiction from Eula Biss. Love the explanations of the different essays at the back too.
I really loved this book. Biss offers penetrating insights into Americans' complicated relationship with race as well as her own personal experiences with community and alienation. With essays ranging from teaching writing in the public school system in NYC to traveling in Mexico and moving to the Midwest to attend graduate school, Biss provides probing, intellectual discussions of the current state of America. I would highly recommend this collection of essays.
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One of the best books of essays I've ever read. Really stunning. "Is This Kansas" and others manage at once to be one of the most lucid and insightful essays I've read maybe ever. I understand Sherman Alexie's judgment, that it manages to be "so wildly wrong and right" at the same time, but found myself agreeing more than disagreeing with Biss.
This is the kind of book that I see myself returning to again and again. ...more
This is the kind of book that I see myself returning to again and again. ...more
Oh jeeze. Oh jeeze. This was the best book I read all year. I could not believe how skillfully she twines her personal experience with historical narrative and analysis. All these essays are beautiful and compelling. You can read the book's title essay here: http://www.believermag.com/issues/200... and I really can't recommend it, or this book, highly enough.
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