The Best American Magazine Writing 2007

By Janet Reitman and American Society of Magazine Editors

This year's selection includes William Langewiesche's probing investigation in Vanity Fair of the slaughter of twenty-four Iraqis in Haditha; C. J. Chivers's chilling account in Esquire of the 2004 hostage crisis in Beslan, which killed 331 people, 186 of them children; Susan Casey's revelation in Best Life of a virtually unknown, Texas-sized garbage dump resting at the bottom of the Pacific ocean; and Andrew Corsello's harrowing portrait in GQ of Robert Mugabe's mad rule and two men-a white farmer and a fiery black priest-who strive for forgiveness instead of hate.

The collection also includes Vanessa Grigoriadis's hilarious portrait of fashion icon Karl Lagerfeld in New York Magazine; Christopher Hitchens's profile of survivors of Agent Orange in Vanity Fair; Sandra Tsing Loh's coverage of the stay-at-home-mommy debate in the Atlantic Monthly; Paul Theroux's thoughts on the dangers of anthropomorphism and our misconceptions about birds in the Smithsonian; Janet Reitman's unraveling of the mysteries of Scientology in Rolling Stone; and the work of nine other exceptional writers.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0231143915
• ISBN13: 9780231143912
• Release Date: November 2007
• Publisher: Columbia University Press
• Length: 520 Pages
• Weight: 1.22 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 5.3" x 7.9"
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

Very Good

There are two or three quite decent examples of good writing in this tome and it is well worth the inexpensive purchase price.

The best of the best

A series of excellent prize-winning articles, ranging from the deeply touching "The Other Side of Hate" by Andrew Corsello to Ian Parker's inspired and funny analysis of fellow writer Christopher Hitchens. Not a clinker in the lot!