by Dave Eggers
First published 2002
Dave Eggers collaborates with high school and college students from his San Francisco writing lab 826 Valencia to assemble this eclectic anthology. The young curators sifted through hundreds of submissions to select pieces that capture life around 2001. Their choices reflect global awareness beyond typical classroom concerns. The collection spans David Sedaris humor and satire from The Onion alongside serious fiction exploring immigrant experiences in Manhattan and young Afghan men torn between Taliban and Northern Alliance loyalties. David Schickler contributes "Fourth Angry Mouse" while Elizabeth McKenzie offers "Stop That Girl," following a twelve year old's nightmarish Swiss journey with her grandmother. One story features a black coach leading a Pennsylvania Amish basketball team. The student editors deliberately chose pieces that resist easy categorization, creating a purposefully incoherent mix that mirrors the confusion of real life. This anthology abandons traditional literary hierarchies in favor of authentic teenage perspective on what matters in contemporary writing.
Genres: fiction, anthologies, contemporary, 21st-century
Vibes: diverse, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, resistance-to-categorization
Setting: Manhattan, Pennsylvania, Afghanistan, Switzerland
Period: 2001
Audio CD · Mariner Books