Anthony Brandt, editor

The Pushcart Book of Essays

As selected from the first twenty-five years of The Pushcart Prize series, the best essays in recent American literature.

What an immense wealth of talent has appeared in the first quarter-century of The Pushcart Prize editions, and much of that talent has been displayed in the essays. From the start in 1976, well before the current plethora of essay anthologies, the editors of The Pushcart Prize recognized and celebrated the essay; over the years the series has witnessed the development of many forms of the genre, including a strong renaissance in the personal essay. This monumental collection selects opinions and reflections on much of the social, literary, and political history of recent decades. The list of authors includes Andre Dubus, Thomas Lynch, Charles Simic, Frederick Busch, Louise Erdrich, Charles Baxter, Vicki Hearne, Joyce Carol Oates, Philip Lopate, Donald Barthelme, Eliot Weinberger, Seamus Heaney, William Kittredge, Franklin Burroughs, Naomi Shihab Nye, Philip Levine, Lars Eighner, Vine DeLoria, Donald Hall, and many more.