The Best American Series First, Best, and Best-Selling The Best American series has been the premier annual showcase for the country"s finest short fiction and nonfiction since 1915. For each volume, the very best pieces are selected by a leading writer in the field, making the Best American series the most respected--and most popular--of its kind. The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2005 includes Daniel Alarcón • Aimee Bender • Dan Chaon • Daniel Clowes • Tish Durkin • Stephen Elliott • Al Franken • Jhumpa Lahiri • Rattawut Lapcharoensap • Anders Nilsen • Georges Saunders • William T. Vollmann • and others Dave Eggers, editor, is the author of A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, You Shall Know Our Velocity!, and How We Are Hungry, and the editor of McSweeney"s. He is the founder of 826 Valencia, a San Francisco writing lab for young people. Beck, guest introducer, whose single "Loser" was instantly labeled an anthem for the slacker generation, is also known for his Grammy Award-winning albums Odelay and Mutations.