Called one of the best magazines in America by Nan Talese and "the roots" in Esquire's garden of contemporary literature, and named one of Writer's Digest's “Nineteen Magazines That Matter,” Prairie Schooner—one of the oldest and most prestigious literary journals in the country—celebrates seventy-five years of continuous publication. This powerful anthology collects some of the best personal essays from the poets, novelists and critics who have appeared in the journal's pages.

Readers will explore a kaleidoscope of memories and experiences, including the power of a planting season, the catharsis that fishing holds for an adolescent boy, the literary fallout from a cousin's death, the lessons learned in the parlor of a Puerto Rican grandmother, the impact of discovering an identical twin's homosexuality, and the revelations of a homecoming.

A professor of English at the University of Nebraska and the editor of Prairie Schooner, Hilda Raz is the author of several books including The Bone Dish. Kate Flaherty, a fiction writer and essayist, is the former managing editor of Prairie Schooner.

"This volume will delight readers searching for the experimentation and personal revelation the journal typically offers. Strongly recommended for public and academic libraries."—Library Journal

"Any reader who values the essay form will find pleasures in this volume."—Publishers Weekly

"What is appealing is the range of subjects and nuances of style and voice. . . . What may appear at first glace to be a deft arrangement of words and images, can also impart interesting philosophical and political content. . . . What is accomplished here, and in the best of cases, is the merging of an intimate, distinctive voice with moral and aesthetic concerns. The personal essay form allows for this in a way that is superior to other genres. . . . A collection such as this one, representing sixteen accomplished writers culled over time from a respected American literary magazine, offers a hungry reader a place to start sampling."—ForeWord

"This is a wonderful anthology that will provide the reader with delightful, insightful, worthwhile reading that is as advertised the Best of Prairie Schooner."—Mike Nobles, co-founder of A Gathering of Writers