State by State: A Panoramic Portrait of America

State by State: A Panoramic Portrait of America
by Matt Weiland, Sean Wilsey

State by State: A Panoramic Portrait of America
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Book Summary Information

Author: Matt Weiland, Sean Wilsey
Edition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2008-09-01
ISBN: 0061470902
Number of pages: 608
Publisher: Ecco

Book Reviews of State by State: A Panoramic Portrait of America

Book Review: All over the place
Summary: 3 Stars

One would have to write 50 reviews of this book because it's all over the place in its treatment, style, and content. The writing ranges from dull to too clever by half.

Other reviewers have noted the general downbeat tone of most of the book, but even that is not really true. Just as other reviewers (as a group) can't decide whether it's worth reading (look at the spread on the review star graph), it will simply please some readers and bore others.

I found it generally worthy, but I did set it aside for long periods. It might be a good book to keep in your car if you have to kill a few minutes waiting for someone, or anywhere you wish to read a book in small bites.

Summary of State by State: A Panoramic Portrait of America

From the bestselling editors of The Thinking Fan's Guide to the World Cup comes an American road trip in book form: original writing on all 50 states by 50 of our finest novelists, journalists, and essayists

Inspired by the example of the legendary WPA American Guide series of the 1930s and '40s, now 50 of our foremost writers have produced original pieces of reportage and memoir that capture the 50 states in our time, creating a fresh portrait of America as it lives and breathes today.

At turns poignant and funny, and always insightful, these 50 writers tell us something lasting and revealing about each state through personal memory or contemporary reporting that captures the essential qualities that make each state its own. With an array of revealing facts and figures comparing the 50 states in a range of surprising measures (toothlessness, military enlistment, suicide), State by State is more than an anthology: It is a classic American road movie in book form.

Featuring original writing on all fifty states

Alabama by George Packer
Alaska by Paul Greenberg
Arizona by Lydia Millet
Arkansas by Kevin Brockmeier
California by William T. Vollmann
Colorado by Benjamin Kunkel
Connecticut by Rick Moody
Delaware by Craig Taylor
Florida by Joshua Ferris
Georgia by Ha Jin
Hawaii by Tara Bray Smith
Idaho by Anthony Doerr
Illinois by Dave Eggers
Indiana by Susan Choi
Iowa by Dagoberto Gilb
Kansas by Jim Lewis
Kentucky by John Jeremiah Sullivan
Louisiana by Joshua Clark
Maine by Heidi Julavits
Maryland by Myla Goldberg
Massachusetts by John Hodgman
Michigan by Mohammed Naseehu Ali
Minnesota by Philip Connors
Mississippi by Barry Hannah
Missouri by Jacki Lyden
Montana by Sarah Vowell
Nebraska by Alexander Payne
Nevada by Charles Bock
New Hampshire by Will Blythe
New Jersey by Anthony Bourdain
New Mexico by Ellery Washington
New York by Jonathan Franzen
North Carolina by Randall Kenan
North Dakota by Louise Erdrich
Ohio by Susan Orlean
Oklahoma by S.E. Hinton
Oregon by Joe Sacco
Pennsylvania by Andrea Lee
Rhode Island by Jhumpa Lahiri
South Carolina by Jack Hitt
South Dakota by Sa?d Sayrafiezadeh
Tennessee by Ann Patchett
Texas by Cristina Henr?quez
Utah by David Rakoff
Vermont by Alison Bechdel
Virginia by Tony Horwitz
Washington by Carrie Brownstein
West Virginia by Jayne Anne Phillips
Wisconsin by Daphne Beal
Wyoming by Alexandra Fuller

and an afterword on Washington, D.C.: A Conversation with Edward P. Jones

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