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 StateAn 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