Another eclectic set of superb writings chosen by perhaps my favorite American essayist–Ms. Fadiman.  In her introduction she admits that like me, she has the full shelf of Best American Essays’ volumes and goes on to identify her favorite color (1994) and best introduction (Elizabeth Hardwick in 1986 and Geoffrey Wolff in 1987). She goes on to examine the process of choosing 20 something essays from hundreds of possible ones and identifies the following characteristics that she was seeking:  shapeliness, restraint, clarity, attention to detail, vitality, density as well as determination to look in a new way at something and to explore one thing deeply—in short, Montaigne’s essays, trying something, not perfecting it.  The collection had several pieces on 9/11, a sign of the times and themes of illness and loss predominated, though humor managed to show up as well.  Loved Gopnik and Gawande best.