Foreword by Robert Atwan
Introduction by Anne Fadiman

Andre Aciman. Lavender
from Harvard Review

Donald Antrim. I Bought a Bed
from The New Yorker

Rachel Cohen. Lost Cities
from The Threepenny Review

Brian Doyle. Yes
from The Georgia Review

Joseph Epstein. In a Snob-Free Zone
from The Washington Monthly

Marshall Jon Fisher. Memoria ex Machina
from DoubleTake

Caitlin Flanagan. Home Alone
from The Atlantic Monthly

Ian Frazier. Researchers Say
from The New Yorker

Atul Gawande. The Learning Curve
from The New Yorker

Adam Gopnik. Bumping Into Mr. Ravioli
from The New Yorker

Francine du Plessix Gray. The Debacle
from The American Scholar

Edward Hoagland. Circus Music
from Harper"s Magazine

Myra Jehlen. F. P.
from Raritan

Jane Kramer. The Reporter"s Kitchen
from The New Yorker

Ben Metcalf. Wooden Dollar
from Harper"s Magazine

Frederic Morton. A Delivery for Fred Astaire
from Harper"s Magazine

Michael Pollan. An Animal"s Place
from The New York Times Magazine

Katha Pollitt. Learning to Drive
from The New Yorker

Elaine Scarry. Citizenship in Emergency
from Boston Review

Susan Sontag. Looking at War
from The New Yorker

Francis Spufford. The Habit
from Granta

Cheryl Strayed. The Love of My Life
from The Sun

Judith Thurman. Swann Song
from The New Yorker

John Edgar Wideman. Whose War
from Harper"s Magazine

Biographical Notes
Notable Essays of 2002