Brief Encounters: A Collection of Contemporary Nonfiction

Among the 77 nonfiction pieces (each under 2,000 words) collected here, the personal tales by Anika Fajardo, Dinty W. Moore, Jim Krusoe, and Tod Goldberg best emulate the short-fiction strategy of hooking readers right away, building suspense, and finishing with a satisfying payoff. Some selections such as Lia Purpura’s “Brief Treatise Against Irony,” simply try too hard. Others, including Ben Anastas’s “O Pioneers!” and Sonja Livingston’s “A Thousand Mary Doyles,” are concise to the point of feeling unfinished. That said, some of the most satisfying inclusions are the shortest, including the one-paragraph pieces “Fats” by Hilton Als and “Grief” by Julian Barnes, and Sven Birkerts’s one-sentence essay entitled, appropriately, “One Long Sentence.” Selections are grouped by themes, including travel, animals, and sports. James Richardson’s “Aphorisms & Ten-Second Essays” and Patricia Hampl’s “Reading,” respectively the opening and penultimate contributions, both focus on literature and reading, neatly framing the other entries. The result is a book that, while uneven, is certainly worthwhile. (Nov.)