: What is the "acid test" for a nonfiction anthology? I'm asking this on Writing.SE because I'm doing a short presentation on "What is an anthology," and I'm not sure how to answer the question

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The core concept of an anthology is a "collection," of things that would otherwise be separate --things that have their own separate identity and coherence.

What is anthologized might be different authors, previously published works by a single author, different types or genres of work, and so forth. In television, an "anthology series" like the Twilight Zone presents individual stories without continuity between them, generally with different casts. Traditionally this was done by episode, newer series like American Horror Story do it by season.

A collection of new work by a single author is not an anthology, because the constituent work didn't ever have its own separate identity. The cookbook, and Kawasaki's book fall under the same reasoning. Most magazines also don't count --Reader's Digest being a notable exception, as a serialized anthology of magazine articles. Similarly, a book of quotations is not typically thought of as an anthology, because the collected pieces that compose it are fragments, not complete works.

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I think "selected literary pieces or passages" is your linchpin here.

Let's take that college mainstay, the Norton Anthology (this one is American Literature). This is a book which contains quotes, poems, short stories, and excerpts of longer works. (IIRC — it's been a while)

The various pieces can be grouped by kind (poetry, quotes), by date, by region, or any other criteria. There may be context, analysis, and discussion around the pieces, or just an introduction to each one. There is nothing in the book which doesn't pertain to those pieces, and the author(s) or editor(s) don't have another story to tell or another agenda to promote outside discussion of the pieces.

So to take your list:

A book of American quotations could be an anthology. I think it
would need some context around the quotes to qualify.
A cookbook might, but it would be a stretch. Cookbooks are
instructional; you're actually meant to use the recipes. An
"anthology cookbook" sounds to me like a collection of ancient
recipes which are presented for educational purposes (like how the
Egyptians prepared a corpse for mummification) rather than something
you could use to make dinner tonight.
Guy Kawasaki's book is his book, and if he includes other excerpts,
that doesn't make it an anthology. If he were collecting an anthology
of other people's work and he was the only one providing analysis,
that might qualify.
A magazine about something else which happens to have a section on X
is not an anthology.

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