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Lee Gutkind

Harrison Scott Key

True Stories, Well Told: From the First 20 Years of Creative Nonfiction Magazine Paperback – August 26, 2014

by Lee Gutkind (Editor), Hattie Fletcher (Editor), Susan Orlean (Introduction)

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Creative nonfiction is the literary equivalent of jazz: it’s a rich mix of flavors, ideas, voices, and techniques—some newly invented, and others as old as writing itself. This collection of 20 gripping, beautifully-written nonfiction narratives is as diverse as the genre Creative Nonfiction magazine has helped popularize. Contributions by Phillip Lopate, Brenda Miller, Carolyn Forche, Toi Derricotte, Lauren Slater and others draw inspiration from everything from healthcare to history, and from monarch butterflies to motherhood. Their stories shed light on how we live.

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From the Kirkus review

"An engaging anthology of creative nonfiction from the editors at Creative Nonfiction magazine.

"The magazine is now celebrating its 20th birthday, so when founding editor Gutkind . . . and managing editor Fletcher went to pick a handful of wildflowers from this bounty to fashion this collection, they had plenty to choose from. Many of the pieces have an experimental quality in that they catch something elemental from an unexplored angle as they venture onto shaky ground. The spiciest take no pains to disguise the process of getting there: Readers share the sensory information coming in and witness the writer’s brain decoding and shaping the material, all subjective and unlike any other, making their own local color as both participant and observer and changing their way of being in the world. As a style, creative nonfiction has yet to be thoroughly pinned down; it remains simultaneously furtive and dodgy, versatile and as inclusive as a hug from Walt Whitman. Longtime New Yorker contributor Susan Orlean—who better to write the introduction?—makes important suggestions to writers considering creative nonfiction: “Don’t over-prepare. Be willing to jump into stories naked; you’ll listen harder and learn more authentically. On the other hand, do over-report. Follow bits of the story that aren’t quite on topic; you’ll probably find something unexpected and fascinating.” Other contributors include Sonya Huber, Gordon Lish, Toi Derricotte and Louise DeSalvo. In Vanity Fair, James Wolcott declared that creative nonfiction is “a sickly transfusion, whereby the weakling personal voice of sensitive fiction is inserted into the beery carcass of nonfiction.” This anthology proves otherwise.

"Whether inducing tears or raucous laughter, all the pieces are inviting, inquisitive and attentive—and sure to spark plenty of imaginations."

About the Author

Lee Gutkind has been exploring the world of medicine through writing for over 20 years. He is the author of Many Sleepless Nights: The World of Organ Transplantation, and the editor of four anthologies about health and medicine: Silence Kills: Speaking Out and Saving Lives; Rage and Reconciliation: Inspiring a Health Care Revolution; Healing; and Becoming a Doctor.

Gutkind is the founder and editor of the magazine Creative Nonfiction, the first and largest literary journal to exclusively publish nonfiction, and has also published the essay collection Forever Fat and two books on writing, The Art of Creative Nonfiction and Keep It Real, among other titles. Currently he teaches creative writing at Arizona State University’s Consortium for Science, Policy, and Outcomes.

Based in Pittsburgh, Hattie Fletcher has been the managing editor of Creative Nonfiction since 2004.

Susan Orlean is the author of The Orchid Thief and Rin Tin Tin and is a staff writer at The New Yorker. She lives in New York City.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ In Fact Books (August 26, 2014)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 320 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1937163164
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1937163167
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 11 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.75 x 1 x 9.5 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #511,074 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1,931 in Essays (Books)

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Lee Gutkind
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Lee Gutkind, recognized by “Vanity Fair” as “the Godfather behind creative nonfiction,” is the author and editor of more than 30 books and founder and editor of “Creative Nonfiction,” the first and largest literary magazine to publish narrative nonfiction exclusively.
Gutkind has lectured to audiences around the world, and has appeared on many national radio and televisions shows, including “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart,” Good Morning America, National Public Radio and BBC World. He is the recipient of various grants and awards, from the National Endowment for the Arts to the National Science Foundation.
His book, “You Can’t Make This Stuff Up,” is described by Susan Orlean, author of “The Orchid Thief,” as the “essential and definitive guide to creative nonfiction . . . engaging, useful, indispensable and inspiring.”
Visit his website at www.LeeGutkind.com.
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Harrison Scott Key
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Harrison Scott Key is the winner of the Thurber Prize for American Humor and the author of three nonfiction novels: How to Stay Married (2023), Congratulations, Who Are You Again? (2018), and The World's Largest Man (2015). He lives in Savannah, Georgia. Learn more at www.HarrisonScottKey.com.
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Sarah Erney

Decent Read

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on April 11, 2018

Verified Purchase

This book has a wide variety of stories that are well written excerpts from a literary magazine. I enjoyed many of them, although some left me scratching my head trying to understand them. Overall, I think everyone will find something for them in this collection.