The Best American series is the premier annual showcase for the country's finest short fiction and nonfiction. Each volume's series editor selects notable works from hundreds of magazines, journals, and websites. The guest editor then chooses the best twenty or so pieces to publish. This unique system has made the Best American series the most respected – and most popular – of its kind.

This special e-book sampler contains eleven selections from the 2011 editions.

From The Best American Short Stories® edited by Geraldine Brooks:

Housewifely Arts by Megan Mayhew Bergman

Phantoms by Steven Millhauser

From The Best American Essays® edited by Edwidge Danticat:

Chapels by Pico Iyer

There Are Things Awry Here by Lia Purpura

From The Best American Mystery Stories edited by Harlan Coben:

A Crime of Opportunity by Ernest J. Finney

From The Best American Science and Nature Writing edited by Mary Roach:

The Killer in the Pool by Tim Zimmermann, Jr.

The Whole Fracking Enchilada by Sandra Steingraber

From The Best American Sports Writing edited by Jane Leavy:

The Surfing Savant by Paul Solotaroff

New Mike, Old Christine by Nancy Hass

From The Best American Travel Writing edited by Sloane Crosley:

My Year at Sea by Christopher Buckley

Miami Party Boom by Emily Witt