The Best American series is the premier annual showcase for the country's finest short fiction and nonfiction. For each volume, the very best pieces are selected by a leading writer in the field, making the Best American series the most respected - and most popular - of its kind.

The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2009 includes PHILIP CONNORS, NATHAN ENGLANDER, JONATHAN FRANZEN, RIVKA GALCHEN, J. MALCOLM GARCIA, DAVID GRANN, DENIS JOHNSON, REBECCA MAKKAI, MATTHEW POWER, and others