The Best American series is the premier annual showcase for the countrys finest short fiction and nonfiction. Each volumes series editor selects notable works from hundreds of magazines, journals, and websites. The guest editor then chooses the best twenty or so pieces to publish. This unique system has made the Best American series the most respected and most popular of its kind.This special e-book sampler contains eleven selections from the 2011 editions.From The Best American Short Stories edited by Geraldine Brooks:Housewifely Arts by Megan Mayhew Bergman Phantoms by Steven MillhauserFrom The Best American Essays edited by Edwidge Danticat:Chapels by Pico IyerThere Are Things Awry Here by Lia PurpuraFrom The Best American Mystery Stories edited by Harlan Coben:A Crime of Opportunity by Ernest J. FinneyFrom The Best American Science and Nature Writing edited by Mary Roach:The Killer in the Pool by Tim Zimmermann, Jr.The Whole Fracking Enchilada by Sandra SteingraberFrom The Best American Sports Writing edited by Jane Leavy:The Surfing Savant by Paul Solotaroff New Mike, Old Christine by Nancy HassFrom The Best American Travel Writing edited by Sloane Crosley:My Year at Sea by Christopher Buckley Miami Party Boom by Emily Witt