The Best American essays, 1997 / edited and with an introduction by Ian Frazier ; Robert Atwan, series editor.

Notes on my mother / Hilton Als -- The fourth state of matter / Jo Ann Beard -- First tell me what kind of reader you are / Roy Blount -- Labyrinthine / Bernard Cooper -- Legends of the fall / Louis de Bernieres -- Who shot Johnny? / Debra Dickerson -- In the face / Richard Ford -- Rat patrol: a saga / Frank Gannon -- Northeast direct / Dagoberto Gilb -- We are still only human / Verlyn Klinkenborg -- Ring leader / Natalie Kusz -- Don't get comfortable / Naton Leslie -- Twenty-fish days / Thomas McGuane -- Backlogs of history / Cullen Murphy -- A drugstore Eden / Cynthia Ozick -- My father / Lukie Chapman Reilly -- Living in tongues / Luc Sante -- My habit / Paul Sheehan -- Dinner at Uncle Boris's / Charles Simic -- Black swans / Lauren Slater -- A century of cinema / Susan Sontag -- Ali in Havana / Gay Talese -- The gangster we are all looking for / Le Thi Diem Thuy -- The case against babies / Joy Williams.