Altschul Andrew Foster - The best American nonrequired reading 2014

Copyright 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Editors Note copyright 2014 by Daniel Handler and Daniel Gumbiner

Introduction copyright 2014 by Lemony Snicket

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The Best American Nonrequired Reading is a trademark of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

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ISSN : 1539-316x

ISBN : 978-0-544-12966-5

e ISBN 978-0-544-12998-6
v1.0914

Embarazada by Andrew Foster Altschul. First published in Ploughshares, Winter 20132014. Copyright 2013 by Andrew Foster Altschul. Reprinted by permission of the author.

Charybdis by Cole Becher. First published in The Iowa Review, Spring 2013. Copyright 2013 by Cole Becher. Reprinted by permission of the author.

You Have Harnessed Yourself Ridiculously to This World and Currying the Fallow-Colored Horse by Lucie Brock-Broido. First published in Stay, Illusion. Copyright 2013 by Lucie Brock-Broido. Reprinted by permission of Alfred A. Knopf.

The Robots Are Coming by Kyle G. Dargan. First published in The Baffler, no. 22, 2013. Copyright 2013 by Kyle G. Dargan.

Body-without-Soul by Kathryn Davis. First published in Duplex, 2013. Copyright 2013 by Kathryn Davis. Reprinted by permission of Graywolf Press.

Greencastle, Nobleboro, and Sidewalk Poem by Matthew Dickman. First published in Wish You Were Here, 2013. Copyright 2013 by Matthew Dickman. Reprinted by permission of the author.

Seven Days in Syria by Janine di Giovanni. First published in Granta, Winter 2013. Copyright 2013 by Janine di Giovanni. Reprinted by permission of the author.

Mona Eltahawy with Yasmine El Rashidi by Yasmine El Rashidi. First published in Bidoun, Spring 2013. Copyright 2013 by Yasmine El Rashidi. Reprinted by permission of the author.

Episode 15: Street Cleaning Day by Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor. First released as part of the podcast Welcome to Night Vale. Copyright 2013 by Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor. Reprinted by permission of Writers House.

K Becomes K by V. V. Ganeshananthan. First published in Ploughshares, Fall 2013. Copyright 2013 by V. V. Ganeshananthan. Reprinted by permission of the author.

If He Hollers Let Him Go by Rachel Kaadzi Ghansah. First published in The Believer, October 2013. Copyright 2013 by Rachel Kaadzi Ghansah. Reprinted by permission of the author.

The Body by A. T. Grant. First Published in Collected Alex, June 2013. Copyright 2013 by A. T. Grant. Reprinted by permission of A. T. Grant.

After Work by Gabriel Heller. First published in Fence, Summer 2013. Copyright 2013 by Gabriel Heller. Reprinted by permission of the author.

Nirvana by Adam Johnson. First published in Esquire, August 2013. Copyright 2013 by Adam Johnson. Reprinted by permission of the author.

15-Second Android by Lally Katz. First published in 15-Second Plays, 2013. Copyright 2013 by Lally Katz. Reprinted by permission of Ugly Duckling Presse.

AP Style by Dan Keane. First published in Zoetrope, Spring 2013. Copyright 2013 by Dan Keane. Reprinted by permission of The Wylie Agency, LLC.

Shift #6 by Ali Liebegott. First published in Shifts, November 2013. Copyright 2013 by Ali Liebegott. Reprinted by permission of the author.

Hugo by Karen Maner. First published in The Colorado Review, Summer 2013. Copyright 2013 by Karen Maner. Reprinted by permission of the author.

The Dream Boat by Luke Mogelson. First published in The New York Times Magazine, November 15, 2013. Copyright 2013 by Luke Mogelson. Reprinted by permission of the author.

The Saltwater Twin by Maia Morgan. First published in Creative Nonfiction, Summer 2013. Copyright 2014 by Maia Morgan. Reprinted by permission of the author.

Rage of Poseidon by Anders Nilsen. First published in Rage of Poseidon, 2013. Copyright 2014 by Anders Nilsen. Reprinted by permission of Drawn and Quarterly.

Little Thing by Sylvan Oswald. First published in 15-Second Plays, 2013. Copyright 2013 by Sylvan Oswald. Reprinted by permission of Ugly Duck Presse.

Two Women by Amos Oz. First published in Between Friends. Copyright 2013 by Amos Oz. Reprinted by permission of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

The Real Alan Gass by Thomas Pierce. First published in Subtropics, issue 15, 2013. Copyright 2013 by Thomas Pierce. Reprinted by permission of the author.

The Man Who Saves You from Yourself by Nathaniel Rich. First published in Harpers Magazine, November 2013. Copyright 2013 by Nathaniel Rich. Reprinted by permission of the author.

The Chinese Barracks by Rebecca Rukeyser. First published in ZYZZYVA, Spring/Summer 2013. Copyright 2013 by Rebecca Rukeyser. Reprinted by permission of the author.

Have Cake and Tea with Your Demons by Yumi Sakugawa. First published in Your Illustrated Guide to Becoming One with the Universe. Copyright 2013 by Yumi Sakugawa. Reprinted by permission of Adams Media, an F+W Media, Inc. Co. All rights reserved.

On the Study of Physics in Preschool Classrooms by Matthew Schultz. First published in Ecotone, issue 16, 2013. Copyright 2013 by Matthew Schultz. Reprinted by permission of the author.

Joy by Zadie Smith. First published in The New York Review of Books, January 2013. Copyright 2013 by Zadie Smith. Reprinted by permission of the author.

I Feel YES by Nick Sturm. First published as I Feel YES, 2013. Copyright 2013 by Nick Sturm. Reprinted by permission of the author.

If You Were a Dinosaur, My Love by Rachel Swirsky. First published in Apex Magazine, March 2013. Copyright 2013 by Rachel Swirsky. Reprinted by permission of the author.

Cat N Leo by Reggie Watts. First published in 15-Second Plays, 2013. Copyright 2013 by Reggie Watts. Reprinted by permission of Ugly Duckling Presse.

Dear Person Who Doesnt Skip Editors Notes at the Beginnings of Books,

Hello. Welcome to The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2014, a collection of journalism, fiction, poetry, comics, stage plays, interviews, and podcast transcripts culled from a mountain of material that was published, posted, or otherwise presented over the previous year. While you were likely wasting your time, a dedicated team of individuals went through this material and gathered together their favorite things.

Who is this team? They are high school students from the San Francisco Bay Area. Some are seniors and some are freshmen. Some go to public school and some to private school. Some talk a lot and some need to be prodded. Some of them believe in aliens and some of them do not. It is irrelevant and perhaps inappropriate to dwell on their physical characteristics, but suffice to say that they are, for the most part, a very good-looking bunch.