The New Kings of Nonfiction

June 25, 2007
We're living in an age of great nonfiction writing,†says Glass, the host of the radio program This American Life
, who picks out 14 of his favorite journalistic features from writers who are “entertainers in the best sense of the word,†unafraid to insert their personal perspective into the stories they're telling. The collection really is front-loaded with “kingsâ€â€”with Susan Orlean and Coco Henson Scales the only female journalists included, despite any number of valid candidates. There's a greater problem with the anthology than its unintentional chauvinism, though. Far from “new,†many of its components are more than a decade old—Lawrence Weschler's “Shapinsky's Karma†dates to the mid-1980s—and several have already been published in other books, like the Malcolm Gladwell article that became a chapter in The Tipping Point
or an extract from Bill Buford's Among the Thugs
. That's not to say that the articles (and their authors) don't deserve the admiration Glass heaps upon them. The way that Michael Lewis teases out the family drama in the story of a teenage day trader who ran afoul of the SEC, for example, is breathtaking reportage and should be read and reread. For all its excellence, though, this anthology is less revelatory than it makes itself out to be.

September 1, 2007
Host of the NPR program "This American Life", Glass ("The Fairest Fowl: Portraits of Championship Chickens") has collected some gems here. What ties together these nonfiction works, he explains in the introduction, is that the authors are good reportersgood, Glass writes, in that they welcome humor and the human element into their stories, unafraid this will diminish the quality of their work. Topics range from superfund sites (Jack Hitt's "Toxic Dreams") and fans of Manchester United (Bill Buford's "Among the Thugs") to talk radio (David Foster Wallace's "Host") and Val Kilmer (Chuck Klosterman's "Call Me 'Lizard King' No]Really, I Insist")who is "even weirder "than you ever thought. Other writers whose nonfiction is featured include Mark Bowden, Malcolm Gladwell, Jack Hitt, Michael Lewis, Susan Orlean, Coco Henson Scales, and Lawrence Weschler. The book is an addictive read all its own; it can also be a wonderful jumping-off point for readers to discover new authors, journals, or web sites with whom/which they may just want to spend more time. Recommended for public and academic libraries.Felicity D. Walsh, Emory Univ., Decatur, GA

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