How often would you expect to find Jhumpa Lahiri, Alison Bechdel, Louise Erdrich, Dave Eggers, and S.E. Hinton published together in the same book? Would you like to read their essays on (respectively) Rhode Island, Vermont, North Dakota, Illinois, and Oklahoma? These essays (and 45 others!) will be coming out in September in State by State: A Panoramic Portrait of America, edited by Matt Weiland and Sean Wilsey.
It's meant to be based on the style of the Work Projects Administration writings about the country as part of the New Deal. I'm looking forward to it! Some links:
Publisher's Weekly Review
Alison Bechdel's blog post on the book, including a comment in which someone has pasted the complete list of authors by state.
