I ended up reading this entire book even though I only need to read like six of the essays. There are a few really well know bits included (i.e. The Declaration of Independence) and but there are a lot that are taken from full works or practically unknown essays. A lot of them are really good, and there are a good chunk that are really boring and feel like a bunch of rambling. It's actually more enjoyable if you have someone to make you think about them, like a professor does.