Autumn Tradition

Every household has its autumn traditions. Beaujolais Nouveau. Thanksgiving travels. Football games. Big Nintendo launches. Whatever.

I call our fall ritual The Why-Don't-I-Write-More-Essays Festival. It kicks off shortly after I purchase each year's edition of The Best American Essays (published by my employer, if you climb to the top of our multi-story org chart). The essay is my favorite nonfiction genre, but my own curriculum vitae includes a long string of "reporting" pieces, the genre that a million J-school grads know by heart. So every year, as I devour thoughtful meanderings by the country's best writers, I ask myself why I'm not trying to work in the form I adore so much. Every year, I resolve to focus on it more, and every year I slip back into my comfortable reporting groove for articles. Granted, that's what my editors often ask of me, but there are other publications out there. Best American Essays essentially provides a list of possible buyers, since each essay lists its source.

So this year, I have a couple good ideas, and I'm once again going to try to break the cycle and at least finish an essay. Selling it is another story, but then isn't it always?

For those who love the genre as much as I, this year's collection seems decent. I remember better years—last year, I believe, was particularly good—but I'm only about halfway through the book so far. My favorite piece to date is Joseph Epstein's look at celebrity vs. fame—status vs. talent—and how our society worships the former and is largely ignorant of the latter. Of course, what I really enjoyed was the sly synopsis from this year's editor, Lauren Slater: "Joseph Epstein...frets about his lack of celebrity status." Because that's certainly at the heart of the piece, even though it barely ever gets mentioned. I'll write more about it soon, as it touched on topics I often think about.