Best of the Web 2008

This print anthology compiles the best fiction, poetry, and nonfiction that online literary journals have to offer in an eclectic collection in the manner of other broad-ranging anthologies such as the Pushcart Prize and The Best American Non-Required Reading. This is the first substantial attempt at creating an annual print compilation of the best of material published online.

“[The] mingling and occasional blurring of genres distinguishes Best of the Web from any other print collections showcasing online literature...the book is heartily significant , featuring work that is sometimes surprising...and sometimes exhilarating—not unlike the Web itself.”—Los Angeles Times

“The Internet is built for this work: short and weird, just what one’s attention span wants when clicking through. And Almond and Leslie wisely pick up on that, making the book worth paging through, as well.”—Time Out Chicago

“Such a development could not have come at a better time for online
literary publishing.”—NewPages.com

“Though publishing online provides us the opportunity to present fiction free
from economic imperative, permitting us, our authors, and our readers to relish
in the experiment of expression, one of our great regrets is forgoing the sensation of binding it, printing it, holding the work we proudly select in our hands. Then along comes Dzanc Books, and this gift of a book, Best of the Web , that feels, to us, like the presentation of an award.”—Aaron Petrovich and Alex Rose, editors, Hotel St. George

“While reading this anthology, you may find yourself muttering , ‘Where
did Dzanc find such brilliant fiction and non-fiction-y writing? Are they
witches? ’ I don’t want to give away too much of the magic, but I will say
this...yes, they are witches.”—Eric Spitznagel, web editor, Monkeybicycle.net

In Best of the Web 2008:

Zachary Amendt, Jonathan Ames, Arlene Ang, Michael Bahler, Robin Behn, David Bottoms, Kris Broughton, Benjamin Buchholz, Edward Byrne, Melanie Carter, Jared Carter, Nancy Cherry, Elaine Chiew, Andrea Cohen, Myfanwy Collins, Leigh Anne Couch, Elizabeth Crane, Stevie Davis, Bruce Fischer, Abby Frucht, Charlie Geoghegean-Clements, Garth Risk Hallberg, Seth Harwood, Edward Hirsch, Cara Hoffman, Sandra Huber, Richard Jespers, Christina Kallery, Thomas King, Anna Kushner, Frannie Lindsay, Valerie Loveland, Maurice Manning, LaTonya McQueen, Juan José Millás - translated by Peter Robinson, Amy Minton, Bill Mohr, Okey Ndibe, Stefani Nellen, Jenny Pritchett, Jacques Rancourt, Christopher Rizzo, Amy L. Sargent, George Saunders, R. T. Smith, Carmen Gimenez Smith, Andrew Sorge, Anne Dyer Stuart, Sarah Sweeney, Ron Tanner, Justin Taylor, Tess Taylor, Kim Whitehead, David Willems, Paul Yoon, J. W. Young, Claudia Zuluaga, introductions from series editor Nathan Leslie and edition editor Steve Almond, and interviews with select authors.