The Best Creative Nonfiction, Vol. 2 [Paperback]

Lee Gutkind (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 17, 2008

"Blending precise research and astute observation with flavorful, fascinating narratives."—Publishers Weekly, starred review (for Vol. 1)

From Lee Gutkind, the "Godfather behind creative narrative nonfiction" (Vanity Fair), and the staff of the landmark literary journal Creative Nonfiction comes this fresh collection of fact-based personal narratives, mined from literary blogs, 'zines, and other fringe publications. In "My Glove: A Biography," Stefan Fatsis, author of Word Freak and a Wall Street Journal reporter, traces the history of his baseball glove—"the one thing I would be devastated to lose, my last, best connection to the baseball that defined my life as a kid"—as he relinquishes it to the glove designer at Rawlings for an overhaul. Heidi Julavits, editor of The Believer, imagines a future in which book-related fatalities—"Death of the intellect is one thing, but actual death is quite another"—revolutionize the writer's market. This new volume of The Best Creative Nonfiction continues to engage and delight with exceptional work from writers old and new.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. In his follow-up to last year's volume, the first in a re-launched, annual version of his journal Creative Nonfiction, Gutkind gathers another fresh collection of exemplary essays from a wide range of authors and sources, tackling everything from multiracial love and familial exile to the connection between memory and digital photo manipulation. Relatable situations and eccentric writers keep the stories intelligent but accessible, and often poignant; especially resonant is Gwendolyn Knapp's attempt to rehabilitate her mom's terminal case of pack-rat fever. Sarah Miller-Davenport provides some levity in a piece on guilty (and expensive) pleasures called "Here I Am in Bergdorf Goodman." Many accounts run up the old stranger-than-fiction flag, most notably Sewell Matter's piece regarding her discovery, on an Icelandic beach, of a page torn from a book; captivated by the "amazingly, almost unbelievably, bad" excerpt, she sets off on a global search for the complete novel. Proving again his chops as an anthologist, Gutkind's latest collection-which also includes Heidi Julavits, Pagan Kennedy, William deBuys and the guy behind IAmGettingFat.blogspot.com-is a 30-run homer, a whirlwind of moods and thoughts captured by some of the biggest talents on the essay and blog beat.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From School Library Journal

Drawn primarily from lesser-known publications and blogs, the 28 pieces in this collection together reflect an attempt to introduce writers outside the mainstream, new voices on the literary scene. In his introduction, Gutkind, founder and editor of the literary journal Creative Nonfiction, writes that the pieces "demonstrate the versatility and strength of this genre we call creative nonfiction." Highlights include Laura Sewell Matter's "Pursuing the Great Bad Novelist," in which she tracks down the author of some pages found on the beach in Iceland, and Pagan Kennedy's portrait of Alex Comfort, "The Dangerous Joy of Dr. Sex." On the other hand, there is Donovan Hohn's "Moby-Duck," about plastic toys gone astray in the ocean, which starts interestingly enough but goes on interminably, and Stefan Fatsis's "My Glove," about the writer's baseball mitt, which did not hold this reviewer's attention, even as a baseball fan. There is certainly a lot of variety here, but the selections included don't reflect this reviewer's idea of "the best." A better selection of creative nonfiction can be found in The Best American Magazine Writing 2007.—Gina Kaiser, Univ. of the Sciences Lib., Philadelphia
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company (July 17, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393330249
• ISBN-13: 978-0393330243
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #208,428 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Lee Gutkind is the founding editor of Creative Nonfiction and prize-winning author or editor of more than a dozen books, the most recent of which, Almost Human: Making Robots Think, was featured on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. As founder of the creative nonfiction movement, according to Harper's Magazine, and the "godfather behind creative nonfiction" (Vanity Fair), Gutkind travels widely throughout the world giving workshops and readings, explaining the craft and the mission of the genre.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Best Creative Nonfiction Vol.2, March 28, 2010

By 

Stephen Balbach (Ashton, MD United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Best Creative Nonfiction, Vol. 2 (Paperback)

At 326 pages and 28 essays, this is a generous collection of nonfiction, but I only found six essays that stood out enough to remark on. Yet, how how good those six are, they make the book as a whole worthwhile seeking out. Probably the best essay is "Moby-Duck" by Donovan Hohn. It's the longest in the book, comprising nearly 60 pages or 20% of the entire length. The pun on "Moby-Dick" is not just because of its length. Like in the novel, the essay is a weird hodgepodge of style and content, sometimes a straightforward journalism about ocean currents and the plastic derbies that floats in it, other-times existential angst on the modern human condition. It is one of the best nonfiction essays I've ever read, a nod to the literary greatness of `Moby-Dick`.

There are two superb mini-biographies. The first, called "Pursuing The Great Bad Novelist" by Laura Sewell Matter, is about the Victorian romance novelist Charles Garvice (1850-1920), whom you have probably never heard of. The Wikipedia article on Garvis gives some background, but Laura's story about how she came to learn about him from a page leaf that washed up on the beach in Iceland is literary gold. The other min-biography is called "The Dangerous Joy of Dr.Sex" by Pagan Kennedy (an original piece, first published in this collection). It is about Alex Comfort, the stodgy English professor who was the unlikely author of the ever-popular 'The Joy of Sex'. His story is basically an encapsulation of the sexual revolution and how far and quickly things changed in a single lifetime.

There are two psychology essays, the first "Instead of the Rat Pack" by Gwendolyn Knapp is about the authors mother who never throws things out and hoards stuff in her house to the point of excess requiring "active intervention." The other is a short web piece called "Shrinks Get It Wrong Sometimes" from ShrinktalkNet, about a patient who foresees his own death. Finally there is a true crime essay called "The Suicide/Murder? of Joseph Kupchick" by James Renner. It concerns a young man who apparently killed himself, but there are many clues to suggest it was actually murder. His father and mother become the lead investigators as the police and journalists write it off.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars These Pieces Really Define Creative Nonfiction, January 13, 2009

By 

Nancy A. Jackson "constant reader" (Monroe, MI USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Best Creative Nonfiction, Vol. 2 (Paperback)

Lee Gutkiond, who pulled together this remarkable collection, says the following in his introduction:

"Creative nonfiction gives the writer more artistic freedom -
not in regard to the truth, but in constructing the story." (p. xi)

These tales are all based on the recounting of events through the lens of the teller; as such they bring in the writer's point of view, her descriptive take and her interaction with the characters involved. The first vignette I read, "Badlands: The Story of a Competitive Eater," got me hooked immediately. Check out "The Woot Files" on how our Internet slang derives from gamers back in the days of Atari -- or "The Answer That Increasingly Appeals," on a mother's search for the appropriate tribute to her daughter on the occasion of her daughter's Bat Mitzvah. All the emotions that accompany great fiction accosted me here, in the flights that the authors took from the facts to works of art.

It's a superb book that highlights a new genre. Try it - even if you don't love it, someone you love will.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars exciting new material, January 24, 2009

By 

David J. Campbell (Faribault, MN United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Best Creative Nonfiction, Vol. 2 (Paperback)

Lee Gutkind continues to find great new and interesting non-fiction writers.

At first I thought I might be reading pieces done by college level writing classes. No way! These are polished extremely well written stories with a tremendous amount of variety. Often they are a bit of the authors own experiences and how others were part of the impact.

Every author has a wealth of experience and these samplings are examples of their coming into their own.