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Book Riot's 50 Must-Read Contemporary Essay Collections

"I feel like essay collections don't get enough credit. They're so wonderful! They're like short story collections, but TRUE. It's like going to a truth buffet. You can get information about sooooo many topics, sometimes in one single book! To prove that there are a zillion amazing essay collections out there, I compiled 50 great contemporary essay collections, just from the last 18 months alone. Ranging in topics from food, nature, politics, sex, celebrity, and more, there is something here for everyone!
I've included a brief description from the publisher with each title. Tell us in the comments about which of these you've read or other contemporary essay collections that you love. There are a LOT of them. Yay, books!"
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How to Write an Autobiographical Novel (Alexander Chee)
How to Write an Autobiographical Novel
1
Alexander Chee
We Were Eight Years in Power (Ta-Nehisi Coates)
We Were Eight Years in Power
2
Ta-Nehisi Coates
Look Alive Out There (Sloane Crossly)
Look Alive Out There
3
Sloane Crossly
Not That Bad: Dispatches From Rape Culture (Edited by Roxane Gay)
Not That Bad: Dispatches From Rape Culture
4
Edited by Roxane Gay
Tonight I'm Someone Else (Chelsea Hodson)
Tonight I'm Someone Else
5
Chelsea Hodson
Tell Me How It Ends (Valeria Luiselli)
Tell Me How It Ends
6
Valeria Luiselli
We Wear the Mask: 15 Stories of Passing in America (Brando Skyhorse (Editor))
We Wear the Mask: 15 Stories of Passing in America
7
Brando Skyhorse (Editor)
The River of Consciousness (Oliver Sacks)
The River of Consciousness
8
Oliver Sacks
Feel Free: Essays (Zadie Smith)
Feel Free: Essays
9
Zadie Smith
Against Memoir: Complaints, Confessions, & Criticisms (Michelle Tea)
Against Memoir: Complaints, Confessions, & Criticisms
10
Michelle Tea
The Mother of All Questions (Rebecca Solnit)
The Mother of All Questions
11
Rebecca Solnit
They Can't Kill Us Until They Kill Us (Hanif Willis-Abdurraqib)
They Can't Kill Us Until They Kill Us
12
Hanif Willis-Abdurraqib
Would Everybody Please Stop?: Reflections on Life and Other Bad Ideas (Jenny Allen)
Would Everybody Please Stop?: Reflections on Life and Other Bad Ideas
13
Jenny Allen
Longthroat Memoirs: Soups, Sex and Nigerian Taste Buds (Yemisi Aribisala)
Longthroat Memoirs: Soups, Sex and Nigerian Taste Buds
14
Yemisi Aribisala
Beyond Measure: Essays (Rachel Z. Arndt)
Beyond Measure: Essays
15
Rachel Z. Arndt
Magic Hours (Tom Bissell)
Magic Hours
16
Tom Bissell
Dead Girls: Essays on Surviving an American Obsession (Alice Bolin)
Dead Girls: Essays on Surviving an American Obsession
17
Alice Bolin
Betwixt-And-Between: Essays on the Writing Life (Jenny Boully)
Betwixt-And-Between: Essays on the Writing Life
18
Jenny Boully
Wedding Toasts I'll Never Give (Ada Calhoun)
Wedding Toasts I'll Never Give
19
Ada Calhoun
Too Much and Not the Mood (Durga Chew-Bose)
Too Much and Not the Mood
20
Durga Chew-Bose
Flâneuse: Women Walk the City in Paris, New York, Tokyo, Venice and London (Lauren Elkin)
Flâneuse: Women Walk the City in Paris, New York, Tokyo, Venice and London
21
Lauren Elkin
Idiophone (Amy Fusselman)
Idiophone
22
Amy Fusselman
Sunshine State (Sarah Gerard)
Sunshine State
23
Sarah Gerard
The Art of the Wasted Day (Patricia Hampl)
The Art of the Wasted Day
24
Patricia Hampl
A Really Big Lunch (Jim Harrison)
A Really Big Lunch
25
Jim Harrison
Insomniac City: New York, Oliver and Me (Bill Hayes)
Insomniac City: New York, Oliver and Me
26
Bill Hayes
Would You Rather? a Memoir of Growing Up and Coming Out (Katie Heaney)
Would You Rather? a Memoir of Growing Up and Coming Out
27
Katie Heaney
We Are Never Meeting in Real Life (Samantha Irby)
We Are Never Meeting in Real Life
28
Samantha Irby
This Will Be My Undoing (Morgan Jerkins)
This Will Be My Undoing
29
Morgan Jerkins
Everywhere Home: A Life in Essays (Fenton Johnson)
Everywhere Home: A Life in Essays
30
Fenton Johnson
One Day We'll All Be Dead and None of This Will Matter (Scaachi Koul)
One Day We'll All Be Dead and None of This Will Matter
31
Scaachi Koul
All the Lives I Want (Alanna Massey)
All the Lives I Want
32
Alanna Massey
Typewriters, Bombs, Jellyfish: Essays (Tom McCarthy)
Typewriters, Bombs, Jellyfish: Essays
33
Tom McCarthy
Nasty Women (Samhita Mukhopadhyay and Kate Harding)
Nasty Women
34
Samhita Mukhopadhyay and Kate Harding
Don't Call Me Princess: Essays on Girls, Women, Sex, and Life (Peggy Orenstein)
Don't Call Me Princess: Essays on Girls, Women, Sex, and Life
35
Peggy Orenstein
When You Find Out the World Is Against You (Kelly Oxford)
When You Find Out the World Is Against You
36
Kelly Oxford
Too Fat, Too Slutty, Too Loud: The Rise and Reign of the Unruly Woman (Anne Helen Petersen)
Too Fat, Too Slutty, Too Loud: The Rise and Reign of the Unruly Woman
37
Anne Helen Petersen
Well, That Escalated Quickly: Memoirs and Mistakes of an Accidental Activist (Franchesca Ramsey)
Well, That Escalated Quickly: Memoirs and Mistakes of an Accidental Activist
38
Franchesca Ramsey
Shrewed: A Wry and Closely Observed Look at the Lives of Women and Girls (Elizabeth Renzetti)
Shrewed: A Wry and Closely Observed Look at the Lives of Women and Girls
39
Elizabeth Renzetti
What Are We Doing Here? (Marilynne Robinson)
What Are We Doing Here?
40
Marilynne Robinson
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