I didn't read all the essays before the book was due back at the library, but I liked what I read, particularly the first three. I kind of thought Ira Glass picked essays that could be stories on TAL. ( )

nonfiction essays. Liked most of them, but suggest skipping altogether "Shapinksy's Karma" (Lawrence Weschler) and I eventually lost interest in "Fortune's Smile: World Series of Poker" (James McManus). I maybe can't speak for 2007 when this was published, but feel like today's compilation would definitely include more women (Laura Hillenbrand? Sheryl WuDunn? I know many women have produced great writing on more weighty topics than working as a hostess at an upscale restaurant/bar.)--though I don't necessarily disagree with the title--since "king" does not necessarily have to continue as a gender-specific noun, just as "actor" can be used to describe both men and women. ( )

I picked up this collection of essays after seeing it on my Goodreads feed. While some of the essays are on topics that I wouldn't necessarily find interesting, I did enjoy many of them, especially the ones by Malcolm Gladwell, Chuck Klosterman, Mark Bowden, and Coco Henson Scales. Although I skimmed over some of the others, they were well-written and would have great appeal to those who are interested in the ideas and topics. This really is sort of like "This American Life," where not the stories are about something you'd make an effort to research, but are interesting when you do happen to catch them. I know I'll be looking up some of these writers to read more of their work. ( )

Every time I finished an article in this collection, I immediately wanted to tell everyone all about it--they're that interesting and thought-provoking and entertaining. But then I'd stop myself and just say "You've really got to read this book", because I realized that half the joy of reading these articles is in discovering them yourself. So, the only thing I'm going to say on this collection is to read Ira Glass's introduction after reading the articles; he's so giddy about how awesome they are that he ends up spoiling some of their surprise--not "plot"-wise, but the surprise of what makes them so good. It's worth discovering that part for yourself. ( )

An anthology of nonfiction pieces fra magazines and newspapers. Most of the stories are impressive and leave you yearning to share what you've learned with someone else. ( )