Best books to read for learning to write personal essays?

I've been a fiction writer for a long time and I've had a lot of people encourage me to get into creative nonfiction. It sounds like fun, but I have no idea where to start. I've spent a lot of time and energy studying narrative craft for short stories, but it isn't all transferable. I know that The Art of the Personal Essay is something to look into, but I'm leaning towards more contemporary writings. I own a few of those Best American Essay anthologies, and I've read various essays from Carver, (Rick) Bass, Hornby, Klosterman (who I didn't like), and Sedaris (who is all right, if not a bit precious).

Who should I check out?

(I'm into the fiction of Carver, Bass, (Tom) Franklin, Updike, Bukowski, and the like, if that helps at all.)

jerrywaxler said:

Hi Werner,

I've read a huge number of books about writing, and am racking my mind to think about one for essay writing. I will look through the pile later and see if anything falls out.

In the meantime, could you say what sorts of topics interest you? It seems it would be a lot easier if you knew what you wanted to write, and then find a style to suit it.

Jerry

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I lean towards validating my interest in pop culture by finding the parallels between my life and the song/show/movie/etc in question. I write about music quite a bit (Lester Bangs, Nick Hornby's Songbook).

Overall, everything is about the Midwest: growing up in a town of 2000 people in Southwest Wisconsin, working in a gas station in a town of 1000, dealing with small town life. I sit somewhere between the quirks of my interest in both pop culture and the Midwest. From what I've tried my hand at so far, and what I enjoy reading, are humorous essays that stick to the ribs. Wit and cleverness are important, but I desire much more than that when reading/writing essays.