Customer Reviews

In Fact: The Best of Creative Nonfiction

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4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
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This anthology of selections from the landmark literary journal Creative Nonfiction delivers real-life drama in many voices. Among the authors are well-known writers Andrei Codrescu, John McPhee, Ntozake Shange, Charles Simic, Ruthann Robson, Terry Tempest Williams, Philip Lopate, Madison Smartt Bell, Richard Rodriguez -- and some the editor calls "brilliant newcomers." (I read that and said, "Yeah, right." He was right.) Each essay differs completely from the others, and each in its own way is exquisite -- both pleasurably and painfully so! No monotonous "victim narratives" here. That era was a necessary phase -- and you can identify its traces in this book -- but it's passed. There's suspense, information, humor, reportage, defiance, reflection. Read (in an essay by a reporter for the Philadelphia Inquirer) about a South Philadelphia meth addict who finds 1.2 million dollars in the street. What's he going to do with it? Or a lawyer undergoing grueling cancer treatments who discovers that her doctors have made a terrible miscalculation. Or a Jewish woman enduring the traditional Hebrew divorce ceremony in front of three rabbis and two "shlubs". Or visit with Joe, everybody's blowhard father-in-law supreme. Highly recommended reading for fans, writers, and would-be writers of creative nonfiction. Could be used as a text for teaching a course in contemporary creative nonfiction, just to show how far the genre can stretch, how it can move you, and in general what the genre can do. (Whether or not you like the editor, or Annie Dillard and her foreword -- is irrelevant.)

I enjoyed this book SO much, I can't recommend it enough! Creative Nonfiction is a relatively new genre, or overlooked. But the genre has now come to the forefront, and it is DIVINE! Lee Gutkind assimilated some fantastic "creative nonfiction" authors, and the result is that of a creme brulee. (really, if you love books as much as I do, you'll understand what I mean. Some people simply assume that nonfiction books are dry, and boring. NOT. "In Fact: The Best Of Creative Nonfiction" surprised me, and basically kept me glued to the book. I finished it in one night, and for me, that is rare. But the writers that Mr. Gutkind chose for this undertaking are so perfect for this genre, and it was a highly interesting read. I can't recommend it enough! BUY IT NOW!

In Fact: The Best of Creative Nonfiction is a triumphant statement about Lee Gutkind's original goals in 1993 for Creative Nonfiction, the journal. This collection of essays shows the depth explored in the journal in its first 11 years, and could also be considered a history of the genre's current incarnation.

Beginning with Annie Dillard's introduction, a collection of pearls of wisdom for young writers, In Fact takes readers on a sometimes-jolting ride through the creation and development of both the journal and the emerging genre. These essays explore the issue of exclusion from society, either because of one's personal actions ("Shunned" - Meredith Hall) the color of one's skin ("Looking at Emmett Till" - John Edgar Wideman), and the state of one's mind ("Three Spheres" - Lauren Slater, "Gray Area: Thinking with a Damaged Brain" - Floyd Skoot). The environment takes center stage in essays about endangered species and hunting ("Prayer Dogs" - Terry Tempest Williams, "Killing Wolves" - Sherry Simpson), and scientific matters are explored with a personal twist ("Adventures in Celestial Navigation" - Philip Gerard, "Chimera" - Gerald N. Callahan).

Families are typically considered the cornerstone of society, and their dynamics and histories are explored here as well ("An Album Quilt" - John McPhee, "Dinner at Uncle Boris's" - Charles Simic, "Being Brians" - Brian Doyle, "Leaving Babylon: A Walk Through the Jewish Divorce Ceremony" - Judyth Har-Even, "Joe Stopped By" - Andrei Codrescu, "In the Woods" - Leslie Rubinkowski, "Mixed-Blood Stew" - Jewell Parker Rhodes, "Why I Ride" - Jana Richman, "Delivering Lily" - Phillip Lopate).

Showing Gutkind's contention that creative nonfiction is related to journalism, at least in the goal of reportage, social issues often found in the news, and accounts related to former "front-page" material are represented as well ("The Brown Study" - Richard Rodriguez, "Finders Keepers: The Story of Joey Coyle" - Mark Bowden, "Notes from a Difficult Case" - Ruthann Robson, "Sa'm Pèdi" - Madison Smartt Bell, "Going Native" - Francine Prose). Finally, literature, and the writing process are explored ("Language at Play" - Diane Ackerman).

These terse classifications would suffice for general indices of these works, but they each have their own depth beyond the general subjects they explore. James Wolcott's theory (mentioned in Gutkind's Introduction) about the nature of creative nonfiction being too personal is decidedly false; these works offer much more than overly personal prose. Wolcott's declaration that Gutkind is "the Godfather behind creative nonfiction" is perhaps his only accurate comment made on the subject. In Fact: The Best of Creative Nonfiction is an excellent cross-section of both the journal and the genre. It is a necessary volume for any writer, and for any reader who enjoys real stories.

This book is one of best compilation titles I ever found.
Perfect if you want to read some of the best nonfiction pieces around.

The subjects multiply of these 25 great essays... from wolves and hunters... to a woman with deseases... to a man fascinated with people named like him... to a guy who remembers his uncle's strange apartment meetings... and so on...

All of those texts are written with a unique style and a rare passion who raised my interest everytime I took the book and started to read.

In fact, while some of the essays here didn't have a subjecto who'd speak to me on a personal level, the thing is... they are all so well written that I just kept on reading. And I did found more to this genre than I used to see.

I recomend this book to writers, readers and just anybody in for a great reading ride.

Mr. Gutkind did a marvelous job collecting theses texts. That must be said.

The introduction (notes for young writers) is also an awesome way to introduce the wonders of this genre.

Highly recomended.

For those unfamiliar with Lee Gutkind, she was instrumental in working on an creating one of my favorite literary publications, Creative Nonfiction. Each issue was devoted to a particular subject, from Family to Intimate Matters or Surviving Crisis.

Just last night, in fact, I read one of the pieces from one of those publications, an essay called "Shunning" which told of the loss of identity faced by a pregnant teen in the 60s, during a time when getting pregnant outside of marriage could cause everyone to turn their backs on a person.

Now I"m thrilled that Gutkind has compiled some of the best examples of Creative Nonfiction. Not only because I'm already a fan of her work but also because I love reading but am short on time. This book is perfect because it allows me to start and finish an entire piece in the book without having to set aside hours to do so. I don't HAVE to read it in a few days or one or two sittings.

I urge you to experience the joys of Creative Nonfiction, especially as compiled by someone as discerning as Gutkind.

It is great for those who have to read in fits and starts, perhaps while waiting to pick up a kid after school or while waiting in line at the drive-up window at the bank. In short, it is perfect for taking with you while on a trip, on the run or when you have a few minute in your day to sit down, have a cup or coffee (or snack) and let one of the many wonderful writers in this volume take you away from you usual routine.

In my newspaper days, recorded in my reporter's notebooks was every story's genesis. Almost daily I set out from the newsroom, notebook in hand, ready to write stories of cross-pulling preacher-bikers, social club ladies, native plant gardeners, and an ex Hanoi Hilton POW, all people and experiences I thought I might one day weave into my grapplings with fiction.

A stack of weathered, worn notebooks, an image that evokes stories ready to be told. It's the image on the cover of In Fact: The Best of Creative Nonfiction, a selection of 25 essays from the first 10 years of the literary magazine Creative Nonfiction founded by Lee Gutkind, the "Godfather behind creative nonfiction."

Each piece in the collection is representative of the genre, a sort of nebulously-monikered genre that encompasses almost every form of nonfiction: personal essay, traditional reflective essays, and New Journalism or literary journalism, reportage that largely relies on narrative to get its information and ideas across.

These pieces, each in their own way, seem to capture the spirit of the journal Gutkind founded, which he reports in his introduction to the collection is a mix of "good old-fashioned reporting -- facts, plus story and reflection or contemplation." Like journalists -- and some as Mark Bowden are journalists -- practitioners of creative nonfiction take out their notebooks and collect interviews and gather other documentation and report their stories, but they immerse themselves in the worlds of meth addicts who stumble upon a cache of money, as Bowden does, or report and reflect upon their experience of becoming a father, as Phillip Lopate does.

These essays are not works of confessional "navel gazers," as Gutkind reports James Wolcott infamously quipped in Vanity Fair magazine. They are explorations into the world, engaging the reader, as writers always have, seeking out, as Gutkind himself has sought as a writer, "other lifestyles, other professions, and the patchwork of prejudices and kindness that make some people different from others." The pieces take us deeper into the world to discover the play of language, as Diane Ackerman does, or provide insight into the workings of the brain and mind and whether there is a separation between the concept of the "mind" and the physical brain, as Floyd Skloot does.In Fact: The Best of Creative Nonfiction

The diversity of themes in this collection provide a great deal of satisfaction while you're reading. I found almost all the stories incredibly compelling and they all touched upon an aspect of life that I haven't thought about in a while. I'm currently disabled and I haven't been able to go to school as I'd planned, but I'm going back next year, and I feel that this book is an excellent tool for preparing me for critiques, analysation, and the challenging environment that Cornell is going to offer.

This volume is a brilliant collection of extremely well written short stories. The subject matter varies with the author and the selected works are engaging. I enjoy creative non-fiction and find this collection is an excellent example of the genre. It also offers information about the authors and mentions the workshops, colleges and universities they attended. Many of the writers currently teach creative non-fiction writing at university level programs throughout the United States.

Not quite as good as last summer's Norton Anthology of Contemporary Creative Nonfiction, but In Fact was nevertheless a good read. In fact, In Fact has proven to be one of my favorite reads of the summer. How can you not like well-written essays about the true world? Written creatively, of course.

I didn't expect this book to look brand new because I got it "used" the package took a 2 weeks to get to me and thats why I gave it 4 stars. But overall loved it once I got it.