Product Description

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 Saïd Sayrafiezadeh
Tennessee by Ann Patchett
Texas by Cristina Henríquez
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

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #753 in Books
• Published on: 2008-09-01
• Released on: 2008-09-16
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 608 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. Without leaving home or spending a cent on gas, readers of this book can enjoy a scenic view of the entire U.S. that is as familiar as it is disorienting. Weiland, deputy editor of the Paris Review, and Wilsey, editor-at-large for McSweeney's, have gathered a group of 50 disparate voices to explore not just their experience in America, but the way each state was presented in the American Guide series of the Federal Writers Project in the 1930s, in which the Works Project Administration (WPA), as part of F.D.R's New Deal, put more than 6000 American writers to work creating a portrait of this country. The editors wanted to make a book inspired by the ideals behind the WPA Guides but they also wanted something more personal, more eccentric, and more partial. Obvious heavy-hitters—Dave Eggars (Illinois), Rick Moody (Connecticut), Jhumpa Lahiri (Rhode Island), Barry Hannah (Mississippi), William T. Vollmann (California)—are included, as well as some wonderful surprises. Alison Bechdel's illustrated story about her life after moving to Vermont brilliantly combines personal history with historical fact, as does Charles Bock's essay on growing up and working in his parent's Las Vegas pawnshop. Mohammed Naseehu Ali's tale of life in Michigan, after moving there from Ghana as a teen, illuminates what the unconditionally generous Michigan nature shares with the traditions of his own Hausa-Islamic culture. And Franzen's imaginary interview with the state of New York is perhaps the high point among this collection of beguiling summations of something all the writers share: a love-hate relationship with how their chosen state has changed and evolved during the course of their lives. (Sept.)
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About the Author
Matt Weiland was deputy editor at Granta for 4 years and is now the deputy editor of The Paris Review. Sean Wilsey is the author of the bestselling memoir Oh The Glory of It All (Penguin Press, 2005). He is an Editor at Large at McSweeney's quarterly.

Customer Reviews

Weak and patrionizing view of the 50 states
Having read a number of the WPA guides when I was younger, I had to say I had much higher hopes when reading this book and have to say that I found it to be all in all terrible. By and large it is a patronizing and sometimes overly sentimental viewpoint of the various states that offers no great insights into what makes them special or what maybe interesting about them. The WPA guides were written by experts in their topic states and gave us insightful and intelligently written essays about what made their states interesting and in their opinions worthy of tourists visits.

While I will admit that some of the articles are more interesting then others, most are just so bland and out of place with the subject matter that they are completely hopeless. Case in point is that the New Hampshire profile is written by someone who only goes there to cover the New Hampshire primary? That is what the editors think New Hampshire is all about? Trust me, save your money and read the original WPA guides, they are much better. Or better yet, write 1500 words on your own state. You are sure to do better then these people.

A MIxed Bag
I had high hopes for this collection of essays after reading the first one, Alabama. The problem is that many of the others are not very interesting or well written, in fact some are just plain boring. There is a collection of tables in the back of the book that are fun to go through. Although I am a big fan of short fiction I can't recommend this book.

Contemporary Writing
"State by State, a Panoramic Portrait of America," edited by Matt Weiland and Sean Wilsey -
Surely this is no great book but it has a fascination. Fifty contemporary writers piece together essays on each of the 50 states. The concept is attention-catching. The editors no doubt are themselves disappointed by some of the results - some of the writers miss their mark widely. If the essays were not in this collection, some would not be recognized as portraits of a state. Kansas is incidental to Jim Lewis' essay, which is more closely focused on the Coyote Club at Wichita. Philip Connors offers a close (and slightly bitter) look at Minnesota's southwest corner, which is rarely a part of Minnesota literature.
"State by State" would bring little to someone (an immigrant) seeking to learn more of America. If you know the land, however, if you know the territory, you will not feel cheated. Often you may be moved to mutter to a writer, "You should be able to do better than this."