Quick Take
I love a good collection of essays/magazine writing so I was curious to check out this collection of the best magazine writing in America for 2022. It was an excellent and interesting read that was educational, entertaining, eye-opening, and thought-provoking.
What Topics Are Covered?
The topics of the articles included in The Best American Magazine Writing 2022 were quite diverse and included pieces on:
- the COVID pandemic
- the James Webb Space Telescope
- the exploration of Venus
- abortion
- Jake Paul and his boxing career
- the problems with the guardianship industry
- an “on the streets” look at the fall of Kabul
- racism and the founder of the Audubon Society founder
- the aftermath of 9/11.
The book also included personal stories and profiles that were quite diverse. The authors range from journalists to famous people (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) to published authors (Ann Patchett).
My Thoughts
I loved moving from one essay to another and discovering an entirely new world or person to explore. There wasn’t a bad piece in the book, but your “favorites” will depend on your personal preferences. For example, I particularly liked the essay by Ann Patchett because I’m a fan of her writing. However, I was just as interested in pieces by writers I’d never heard of and topics I didn’t know anything about.
Some of the essays gave me a greater insight into current events–such as the launch of the James Webb Space Telescope and all that was involved in designing and launching it. I knew it was already a success with all the photos that have been featured in the news, but reading about all the possible issues and design challenges gave me more depth and context to what went into getting those photos.
The pieces were drawn from various publications and websites, such as The Atlantic, Harper’s, Popular Science, Quanta, Women’s Health, AARP the Magazine, Texas Highways, ESPN.com, BuzzFeed News and more. So you’ll probably be exposed to writing from sources you may not come across in your daily life.
All in all, this was a satisfying read that I found quite edifying and interesting.
My thanks to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book.
