State by State is a collection of 50 mostly personal essays, each about one of the 50 states of the U.S. According to one of the editors, Matt Weiland, “This book started with a hunch and a conviction.” While there are numerous blogs, books, documentaries, and songs about the American states, it still takes a disaster of some sort to remind us about the rest of the country, not just where we live. For example, it took 9/11 for us to remember the fragility of the Twin Towers, the Great Depression to remind us of our erratic stock market, and the effects of Hurricane Hugo to remind us of the seemingly indestructible architecture in South Carolina’s capital. Upheaval is revealed to be a changing force in our lives. For example, Hurricane Katrina destroyed the lifestyles of the people of Louisiana until they were able to reconstruct the thousands of buildings destroyed during the Category 5 hurricane. For the people of South Carolina, more specifically Charleston, this hurricane was Hurricane Hugo.