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State by State: A Panoramic Portrait of America | 
| Authors: Matt Weiland, Sean Wilsey
Publisher: Ecco
Category: Book
List Price: $29.95
Buy New: $19.77
You Save: $10.18 (34%)
Rating:  52 reviews
Sales Rank: 7593
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 608
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2.1
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6.3 x 1.3
ISBN: 0061470902
Dewey Decimal Number: 973
EAN: 9780061470905
Publication Date: September 1, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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Product Description
From the bestselling editors of The Thinking Fan's Guide to the World Cup comes an American road trip in book form: original writing on all 50 states by 50 of our finest novelists, journalists, and essayists Inspired by the example of the legendary WPA American Guide series of the 1930s and '40s, now 50 of our foremost writers have produced original pieces of reportage and memoir that capture the 50 states in our time, creating a fresh portrait of America as it lives and breathes today. At turns poignant and funny, and always insightful, these 50 writers tell us something lasting and revealing about each state through personal memory or contemporary reporting that captures the essential qualities that make each state its own. With an array of revealing facts and figures comparing the 50 states in a range of surprising measures (toothlessness, military enlistment, suicide), State by State is more than an anthology: It is a classic American road movie in book form. Featuring original writing on all fifty states Alabama by George Packer
Alaska by Paul Greenberg
Arizona by Lydia Millet
Arkansas by Kevin Brockmeier
California by William T. Vollmann
Colorado by Benjamin Kunkel
Connecticut by Rick Moody
Delaware by Craig Taylor
Florida by Joshua Ferris
Georgia by Ha Jin
Hawaii by Tara Bray Smith
Idaho by Anthony Doerr
Illinois by Dave Eggers
Indiana by Susan Choi
Iowa by Dagoberto Gilb
Kansas by Jim Lewis
Kentucky by John Jeremiah Sullivan
Louisiana by Joshua Clark
Maine by Heidi Julavits
Maryland by Myla Goldberg
Massachusetts by John Hodgman
Michigan by Mohammed Naseehu Ali
Minnesota by Philip Connors
Mississippi by Barry Hannah
Missouri by Jacki Lyden
Montana by Sarah Vowell
Nebraska by Alexander Payne
Nevada by Charles Bock
New Hampshire by Will Blythe
New Jersey by Anthony Bourdain
New Mexico by Ellery Washington
New York by Jonathan Franzen
North Carolina by Randall Kenan
North Dakota by Louise Erdrich
Ohio by Susan Orlean
Oklahoma by S.E. Hinton
Oregon by Joe Sacco
Pennsylvania by Andrea Lee
Rhode Island by Jhumpa Lahiri
South Carolina by Jack Hitt
South Dakota by Saïd Sayrafiezadeh
Tennessee by Ann Patchett
Texas by Cristina Henriquez
Utah by David Rakoff
Vermont by Alison Bechdel
Virginia by Tony Horwitz
Washington by Carrie Brownstein
West Virginia by Jayne Anne Phillips
Wisconsin by Daphne Beal
Wyoming by Alexandra Fuller and an afterword on Washington, D.C.: A Conversation with Edward P. Jones
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| Customer Reviews: Read 47 more reviews...
 If NPR wrote a book... October 1, 2008
26 out of 29 found this review helpful
This is not a bad book by any means. It's got some decent photos, and some of the essays I've read (not all. I've only focused on the states I've lived in or visited for any length of time, plus Michigan), are very well written.
Here's the problem, though. When I read them, I keep "hearing" them in what I can only describe as an "NPR voice". Now I like NPR, and I'm as liberal as liberal gets, but frankly some of these essays annoy me. They seem to only want to focus on the negatives (California), come off as somewhat smug (Arizona), or focus on what I can best describe as "quaint native culture" (Alaska).
There's this vaguely irritating trend where the authors always seem to feel the need to remind us that Europeans weren't here first. There also seems to be a constant lament about how horrible it is that we've lost touch with nature and destroyed the natural world, etc, etc. None of this is exactly bad, per se, but it's brought up constantly and gets old.
As for the presentation... the book feels like a textbook, and I don't mean that in some abstract way. I mean that when you touch the non-dust-cover-having cover, it physically feels like a textbook. More to the point, it seems almost like it's trying to mimic the look and feel of a book from the 1950's or 1960's. This isn't bad, but it is rather odd.
Overall this book is not what I'd expected or hoped for. It's a perfectly ok book in some ways, but gets annoying after a while. Probably best read in small doses, if at all. I will say the demographic information at the end of the book is quite spiffy, and what keeps this from being two stars.
 But where I come from.... September 28, 2008
23 out of 24 found this review helpful
Editors Matt Weiland and Sean Wilsey commissioned a group of (very) different writers to write an essay on each of the 50 states. Some of these writers are well-known award winners, others are less familiar. They are reporters, novelists, playwrights, filmmakers and even a musician. Some are natives or long time residents of their states, and others are more recent transplants. Some were even sent to the state just to get a sense of the place from a writer's eyes. .
This book is a follow-up of sorts, to the WPA Federal Writers Project of the 1930's, which similarly hired a group of writers to write state guides, "to describe American to Americans." Each guide was more than 500 pages.
We all know a lot has happened since the 1930's, and our country has become a lot more homogenized. We all listen to the same music on our XM radios, and we can shop at the same big box stores, or snack at the same fast food restaurants.
But each state is still unique, and these essays attempt to show us how. Some of the writers talk about the history, others the landscape, and others describe the personalities of people who inhabit particular places. Some talk about the myths and the positive things that would appeal to the local Chamber of Commerce, and others are more gloomy and talk about the problems. And many of these essays contain all of these things.
This is a strange book to review, because each story is so different, both in style (different writers) and obviously in substance. For that reason, readers will enjoy reading some of these essays, and not care for others. But this is a unique and timely book, and a wonderful way to "see" each state. As Matt Weiland told the writers:
"To everyone we said: Tell us a story about your state, the more personal the better, something that captures the essence of the place. Not the kind of story one hears in a musty lecture hall or one reads in the dusty pages of an encyclopedia. The kind of story the enlisted soldier tells his boot-camp bunkmate about back home. The kind of story wistful and wise, that begins, 'Well, I don't know about you, but where I come from...."
And they did.
Skip Saïd''s essay. September 25, 2008
21 out of 27 found this review helpful
I've hitchhiked cross-country three times; I've lived and worked in 13 states, and have visited them all with only one or two exceptions. My favorite reading when flying is a collection of essays - for obvious reasons. State-By-State is exactly the kind of book I would pick up in paperback at the airport. [I have a hard cover copy.]
I ordered this sight unseen and I was not disappointed. It is very enjoyable reading. To get a sense of whether the various authors hit the target set by the editors, I first read those essays of states where I had spent the most time. Except for the essay on South Dakota (essayist: Saïd Sayrafiezadeh) I was very impressed. I thought the following were particularly excellent: North Dakota, South Carolina, California, and Iowa. In fact, every essay was superb, except Saïd''s. I have no idea why the editors accepted his self-centered, smug out-of-town review. I particularly admired the ability of William T. Vollmann (CA) to cover so much territory in so few pages (his was one of the longer essays at 13 pages) and let me re-live my halcyon days in paradise.
It was probably only me, but I did not recognize the names of any of the authors, except for one (Randall Kenan, NC). It appeared most of the essayists were new authors, and I did not recognize any of their novels. That may not be surprising because with a math and science background, I only began a serious reading program in 2002 and have not gotten more recent than the 1920's with some exceptions (Hunter S. Thompson, Jack Kerouac, Anaïs Nin and Ernest Hemingway, being the most notable). If not a novelist, the essayists were more than likely to be on staff or contributors to the New York Times or The New Yorker. Even when I learned one (Tony Horwitz) had been awarded a Pulitzer Prize (1995), I did not recognize any of his books.
The editors did include 30 tables of demographic data, everything from cigarette consumption to breastfeeding rate to suicide rate at the end of the book. The book would not have been diminished had these tables not been included. Somehow the tables seemed to make the book appear more like a reference book. Perhaps it was the glaring, bold font.
Examples of how the essayists got it exactly right (for the most part):
Cristina Henriquez (TX) noted that Texans make a note of whether one is born a Texan or if one is transplanted. Henriquez got that exactly right. Christina came from Iowa.
Anthony Bourdain (NJ) reminds us how the state has become a "punchline" but at the same time, when he travels in the US, he notes that every state now looks exactly like New Jersey (malls, franchise eateries, Victoria Secret superstores, and Home Depots). Touché.
Jonathan Franzen (NY) reminded me again why so many people have a negative view of the Big Apple and New Yorkers in general (it's likely most people are not aware there is more to New York than the city). The author simply transcribed an interview with the governor's and mayor's straphangers and, to some extent, the main men themselves. I think Franzen took the money and ran, providing us a glimpse of "a New York minute."
Jack Hitt (SC) explains the difference between Charleston and the rest of the state. Superb. This is perhaps the best of the best essays for hitting the editors' mark. New Yorkers have nothing over the Charlestonians when it comes to snobbery, according to Hitt. For proof he notes: the residents say "the two rivers that shape the peninsula of downtown Charleston - the Ashley and the Cooper - come together to form the Atlantic Ocean."
Louise Erdrich (ND) notes that the density of her home state and mine is between nine and ten people per square mile, and most of them live in three "big" cities. If you avoid these population centers, she says, you can travel in a blissful abeyance of humankind. You can help me out by doing a word search for me, but I believe Louise is the only essayist to use the word "blissful" when writing about his/her particular state.
If you have not lived in or experienced the majority of American states, you might not enjoy this book. If you think you know the American states, pick this up at the airport bookstore on your next trip. If it's a business trip to a state you've not been before, this might give you some cocktail chatter for the icebreaker.
Just skip Saïd''s essay on South Dakota. Go straight to South Carolina.
Magnificent Collection of Essays about Our Great Country September 29, 2008
13 out of 14 found this review helpful
This book is a compilation of essays; one written directly for each state in the United States. Each is written by a different author that has a connection directly to the state that the author is writing about, which authenticates the essays as truly wonderful works about the states they know, and in most case, love.
Some of the essays are long, while some are fairly short. Some cover large geographical areas and some cover minute portions of the state. And each has a particular slant about the state that is unique to each essay. From covering life along the Merritt Parkway as a youth in Connecticut to living in the desert in Arizona, each essay presents a look into the wonders of the state that you won't find in any other form of travel writing.
Having lived in a number of states, and having traveled to all of them rather extensively, I can attest to the creativity and unique look that each essay provides at each of the states. In many cases, I was getting nostalgic and reliving the memories I had of a particular state. I was reminded of why each state is different, but also so similar.
While you may not like every essay, and I am sure each person will find a few to love and a few to hate, varying by the individual reader, this book is a great look at the United States. If, like me, you like short stories and essays, this will be a book you will treasure. I highly recommend this book to all, as it is a wonderful way to learn about the country without leaving the comfort of your home.
 NOT recommended for families with kids! Should be rated R at least! October 3, 2008
7 out of 36 found this review helpful
This was soooo NOT what I was expecting! When I read the write up for this book I thought, "Neat, an updated, witty peak into out of the ordinary (kind of expecting a "Paul Harvey, rest of the story" )book with interesting, little known facts & trivia about the states!
What it REALLY is I found out, to my dismay, that this is a compilation of "off the wall" essays, by people who wrote something that they felt was "smart" or politically correct (aka liberal crap!) It should be rated "R" to give readers a "heads up as to the underlying theme of this book...
Do not buy this IF you are thinking this has anymore redeeming value other than the first page of facts regarding population etc... for each state!
When I first received it I foolishly handed it to my 15 year old son
who after about 5 minutes said, "Mom, you might want to look at this FIRST, there is a bad picture in here!" I looked at it & there was a picture of a group of "ladies" buck naked, labeled the sirens of...."
After reading that states info & the rambling on of some lesbian who recounts her many "love affairs" while falling in love with a particular 'open minded" forward thinking state..... I was ready to pitch it in the garbage! I don't even want this book in my house, it is trash!
NOW if they labeled it as what it actually is, I'm sure a flock of artsy liberals would swoop it up in a heartbeat, but as it is, I feel it my duty to warn those who are actually expecting, as I was, an actual book about the states, that, it is NOT!! I give this puppy 2 thumbs down! Bad-mis representation of what appeared to be a good wholesome type of book! NOT!! :-(
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