Day 9: "If/Then"

Courtney Miller Santo (New Letters, Summer/Fall 2023)

In this twenty-two-day series, we are counting down the days to publication (October 22, 2024) with a brief passage from each of the twenty-two essays included in The Best American Essays 2024. These excerpts were curated by Best American Essays Editorial Assistant Cheyenne Paterson and are presented in the order of the volume’s table of contents.

“I don’t have to survive the end of the world. If I know when and how the world will end, then I can plan for obliteration. For a long time, at least until I had my own children, I found the thought comforting. Having children complicated my feelings about survival, and the obligations we have to those we bring into this world.”

—Courtney Miller Santo, “If/Then,” New Letters, Summer/Fall 2023)