Short Takes: Brief Encounters with Contemporary Nonfiction edited by Judith Kitchen

 genre: nonfiction essay

I don't usually even attempt anthologies - I definitely prefer the novel or nonfiction that READS like a novel. But this one had a beautiful bird on the cover and the idea of "brief encounters" intrigued me.  I really enjoyed this, which surprised me.  No, they didn't all INTEREST me, necessarily, some were maybe a bit dull and some just weren't about anything I was interested in.  But for the most part, I WAS interested.  The writing was always at least good, sometimes astonishingly so.  I laughed out loud.  I FELT, deeply, and found kernels of truth exposed in a new way.  A few of these short pieces really resonated with me, solidifying some of my own ideas I'd never even found myself thinking clearly until now.  I LIKED how short they were and I liked how even in a page or two that a full and fleshed out idea could be presented for me to mull over.  THAT is some good writing.   For my own future reference, the ones I particularly liked were Tenino, What Sacagawea Means to Me, Standard Time, War at Home, Book War, Bookless in Biak, Disclaimer and Margot's Diary.