The best American essays 2015 / edited with an introduction by Ariel Levy ; Robert Atwan, series editor.

Foreword: of essays and essayists / Robert Atwan -- Introduction / Ariel Levy -- Islands / Hilton Als -- This old man / Roger Angell -- Charade / Kendra Atleework -- A message to the twenty-first century / Isaiah Berlin -- Strange days / Sven Birkerts -- Vision / Tiffany Briere -- My daughter and God / Justin Cronin -- Difference maker / Meghan Daum -- Thing with feathers that perches in the soul / Anthony Doerr -- The crooked ladder / Malcolm Gladwell -- 65 / Mark Jacobson -- Scenes from a life in Negroland / Margo Jefferson -- Smuggler / Philip Kennicott -- A man and his cat / Tim Kreider -- The loudproof room / Kate Lebo -- My grandma the poisoner / John Reed -- Reflections on indexing my lynching book / Ashraf H.A. Rushdy -- Stepping out / David Sedaris -- Find your beach / Zadie Smith -- Arrival gates / Rebecca Solnit -- My uniform / Cheryl Strayed -- It will look like a sunset / Kelly Sundberg -- Notable essays and literary nonfiction of 2014 / selected by Robert Atwan.