This is the second collection of the Best American Nonrequired Reading series. Like the first volume, this is a collection of a wide variety of writing, both fiction and nonfiction alike. Also, like the first volume, there are a few excellent pieces in this collection with the rest being good, but not quite as good. A couple of the standout pieces are Mark Bowden s Tales of the Tyrant , Daniel Voll s Riot Baby , and Ryan Boidinot s The Littlest Hitler . The Tyrant in question in Bowden s piece is Saddam Hussein, and this is a very interesting look at the dictator. Daniel Voll s article is about a boy who was born during the L.A. Riots a decade ago. The Littlest Hitler is an excellent short story.

Other pieces that I would highlight are: Things We Knew When the House Caught Fire , The Guide to Being a Groupie , Love, and Other Catastrophes: A Mix Tape , I ll Try Anything With a Detached Air of Superiority , Rooster at the Hitchin Post , and Lost Boys . These are not the only pieces that I enjoyed, and as a whole, I would say that this collection was better than the first. There were fewer weaker pieces, and the Nonrequired Reading collection is one to look for every year.