The best American essays 2001 / edited and with an introduction by Kathleen Norris ; Robert Atwan, editor

Includes bibliographical references and index.

In the memory mines / Diane Ackerman -- How to pray: reverence, stories, and the Rebbe's dream / Ben Birnbaum -- The bone garden of desire / Charles Bowden -- Travels with R.L.S. / James Campbell -- Mail / Anne Fadiman -- The work of mourning / Francine du Plessix Gray -- Vin Laforge / Jeffrey Heiman -- Calliope Times / Edward Hoagland -- India's American imports / Adam Hochschild -- Refugium / Barbara Hurd -- On impact / Stephen King -- Blue machinery of summer / Yusef Komunyakaa -- The midnight tour / Marcus Laffey -- Facing the village / Lenore Look -- Book marks / Rebecca McClanahan -- Trouble in the tribe / Daphne Merkin -- Provincetown / David Michaelis -- Brain-cell memories / Spencer Nadler -- Dust / Mary Oliver -- Dear Harper : a letter to a godchild about God / Reynolds Price -- The fineness of things / Tim Robinson -- Cut time / Carlo Rotella -- Exquisite corpse / Ashraf Rushdy -- The last word / Earl Shorris -- On being breathless / Bert O. States -- Upside down and backward / William T. Vollman.

Since its inception in 1915, the Best American series has become the premier annual showcase for the country's finest short fiction and nonfiction. For each volume, a series editor reads hundreds of pieces from dozens of periodicals, then selects between fifty and a hundred outstanding works. That selection is pared down to the twenty or so very best pieces by a guest editor who is widely recognized as a leading writer in his or her field. This unique system has helped make the Best American series the most respected -- and most popular -- of its kind. From The New Yorker to The Georgia Review, from Esquire to The American Scholar, the editors of THE BEST AMERICAN ESSAYS have scoured hundreds of the country's best periodicals in search of the most artful and powerful writing around. This thoughtful, provocative collection is the result of their search.