The best text on reading and writing creative nonfiction. The introductory chapters outline the types of creative nonfiction, providing guidance on deciding where to begin, helping with focus, transitions, and endings, and giving information on style, revision, and research.
The best anthology of creative nonfiction. Arranged alphabetically by author, the anthology’s 52 selections feature work by some of today’s finest writers — from long-renowned authors such as Joan Didion to exciting new ones such as Touré — and also include a number of serial graphic pieces. The diverse content represents the full range of subjects and approaches, from personal memoir to literary journalism, social commentary to satire. For instance,
- Annie Dillard’s marvelous "Total Eclipse" blends science with memory and reflection.
- In a selection from Candyfreak, Steve Almond parlays a quirky obsession with confections into a sensitive description of obscure candy and its makers.
- Guy Delisle, in an excerpt from his graphic novel Pyongyang, describes "a phantom city in a hermit nation."
The best editorial support — by a uniquely qualified author team. Prepared by Becky Bradway, a prize-winning author and editor of nonfiction essays, and Doug Hesse, a leading scholar and teacher of creative nonfiction, the editorial matter includes biographical and contextual introductions to each selection, extended writing assignments, and alternative contents (by topic, by subgenre, by techniques, and by chronology) that highlight different ways to approach the selections.
One-of-a-kind interviews with writers of creative nonfiction. Specifically for this volume, Becky Bradway interviewed 22 of the authors in the anthology to illuminate the process — the strategies and pitfalls — of writing creative nonfiction.