Inspired by Depression-era travel guides, an anthology of essays on each of the fifty states, plus Washington, D.C., by some of America's finest writers.

State by State is a panoramic portrait of America and an appreciation of all fifty states (and Washington, D.C.) by fifty-one of the most acclaimed writers in the nation.

• Anthony Bourdain chases the fumigation truck in Bergen County, New Jersey


• Dave Eggers tells it straight: Illinois is Number 1


• Louise Erdrich loses her bikini top in North Dakota


• Jonathan Franzen gets waylaid by New York's publicist . . . and personal attorney . . . and historian . . . and geologist


• John Hodgman explains why there is no such thing as a "Massachusettsean"


• Edward P. Jones makes the case: D.C. should be a state!


• Jhumpa Lahiri declares her reckless love for the Rhode Island coast


• Rich Moody explores the dark heart of Connecticut's Merritt Parkway, exit by exit


• Ann Patchett makes a pilgrimage to the Civil War site at Shiloh, Tennessee


• William T. Vollman visits a San Francisco S&M club


• And many more

Praise for State by State

An NPR Best Book of the Year

"The full plumage of American life, in all its riotous glory." — The New Yorker

"Odds are, you'll fall for every state a little." — Los Angeles Times