great compilation, very inspiring pieces. title a little too pretentious. really, too pretentious. or maybe it’s just my antimonarchyc sentiment. why would they be kings – i don’t know -. some of them are really good. or should i say, most of them. the separation between fiction and nonfiction has always intrigued me. people in the spanish speaking world rarely use it. but it’s such a handy one. nonfiction being a category much larger than journalism or essay or sociology or ethnography. very handy indeed. that is to say, the pieces in this book range between the investigative book and the humorous article on a weekly journal. but inspiring they are and they do range in style. my favorite style wise was “Host” by David Foster Wallace. most boring one: Fortunes’s Smile by James McManus, all about poker, so it was very hard to follow.
Losing the war by Lee Sandling was very sad but had a lot, a lot of insight into II world war – worth reading – and six degrees of lois weisberg by malcom gladwell had beautiful sociological explanations. there are a few jewels. nice introduction too.

Only two or three duds in the book.