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  • The Best American Essays 2026 by Masha Gessen book cover
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The Best American Essays 2026

by Masha Gessen

Essays making sense of a changing world

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AlbakiReads Editorial

Essays making sense of a changing world

Guest editor Masha Gessen frames this collection around a question: what can the essay offer when the world itself feels difficult to comprehend? Twenty writers contribute pieces that together form a portrait of 2025, ranging across American media, consciousness, queer identity, wealth disparity, illness, capital punishment, war, and art. The collection’s breadth gives the volume a social and cultural scope, while its focus on the essay’s subjectivity foregrounds personal perspective as a way of interpreting public life. Contributors include Hilton Als, Taffy Brodesser-Akner, Andrea Long Chu, Ben Lerner, Jia Tolentino, and Christian Wiman.

Good fit for readers who enjoy

  • Readers interested in contemporary essay collections and literary nonfiction.
  • Readers seeking a range of perspectives on American culture and public life.
  • Readers interested in essays addressing identity, inequality, illness, war, and art.

Themes

The essay and subjective perspectiveAmerican media and public lifeIdentity and inequalityIllness, war, and capital punishmentArt and meaning

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Book overview

"The essayist needs the objective world," writes M. Gessen, the guest editor of The Best American Essays 2026, asking, "But does the objective world need the essayist?" There is no straightforward answer to Gessen's query, yet the authors in this volume tackle it headfirst. In doing so, they provide a mosaic depicting the year 2025, examining the degradation of American media, human consciousness, queer identity, wealth disparity, illness, capital punishment, war, and art. The twenty authors featured here show us that the essay and its subjective nature make meaning of a world that is growing more incomprehensible with each day.

THE BEST AMERICAN ESSAYS 2026 INCLUDES: HILTON ALS - TAFFY BRODESSER-AKNER - ANDREA LONG CHU - FERNANDA EBERSTADT - BEN LERNER - TATIANA SCHLOSSBERG - JENNIFER SENIOR - JIA TOLENTINO - CHRISTIAN WIMAN - AND OTHERS

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