Genre: State by State

TAYLEN LI

Myla’s Maryland  American editors Sean Wilsey and Matt Weiland had a mission: uncover America and all its richness, one state at a time. The project grew from a hunch and a conviction. The hunch was that for one to truly understand America, they must learn it state by state, and to acquire an accurate understanding Read more…

TIMPER XU

Rather than saying Larry’s essay is a pure reflection on the Idaho chapter of State by State: A Panoramic Portrait of America, saying that it is a guide that leads readers to understand the history that is behind this chapter would be more reasonable and accurate. The series, WPA State Guides is the starting point of this history: Read more…

SIMON LIM

Don’t read Blythe blithely In the early 2000s, Matt Weiland and Sean Wilsey, two American editors, found themselves with a hunch and a conviction which led to them publishing a collection of essays under the title: State by State: a Panoramic Portrait of America. The conviction, as described in Matt Weiland’s preface, was the “easy Read more…

NATHAN LUU

John Hodgman’s essay on Massachusetts was quite the pleasure to read. He writes about his home state, obviously showing a ton of passion and showing us a side of Massachusetts that not even myself knows too well. When people think of the state they either first go to all of the great colleges and schools Read more…

MICHAEL LIN

A Journey Through the Familiar: William T. Vollmann’s California In 2006, Sean Wilsey and Matt Weiland came up with an idea to write a book. It took them two years to pull together a collection of travelogues, detailed narratives, and encapsulating essays. State by State: a Panoramic Portrait of America, was to be a compilation Read more…