Contemporary Creative Nonfiction: The Art of Truth - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0195135563 ISBN 13: 9780195135565

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 2001

Synopsis

The most inclusive collection of creative nonfiction available, Contemporary Creative Nonfiction: The Art of Truth is the only anthology that brings together examples of all three of the main forms in the genre: the literary memoir, the personal essay, and literary journalism. Featuring a generous and diverse sampling of more than sixty works, this collection includes beautiful, disturbing, and instructive works of literary memoir by such writers as Mary McCarthy, Annie Dillard, and Judy Ruiz; smart, funny, and moving personal essays by authors ranging from E.B. White to Phillip Lopate to Ntozake Shange; and incisive, vivid, and quirky examples of literary journalism by Truman Capote, Barbara Ehrenreich, Sebastian Junger, and many others. This unique volume also contains examples of captivating nature writing, exciting literary travel writing, brilliant essays in science, surprising creative cultural criticism, and moving literary diaries and journals, incorporating several classic selections to set a context for the contemporary work. The editor's general introduction and introductions to each of the five sections provide useful definitions, crucial history, critical context, and abundant issues to debate. Ideal for undergraduate and graduate courses in creative nonfiction, literary journalism, essay writing, and all levels of composition, Contemporary Creative Nonfiction: The Art of Truth is also an essential resource for all nonfiction writers, from novices to professionals.

About this title

About the Author:

Bill Roorbach is the author of nine books of fiction and nonfiction, including the Flannery O'Connor Prize and O. Henry Prize winner Big Bend; Into Woods; Temple Stream; and most recently, the bestselling Life Among Giants. The 10th anniversary edition of his craft book, Writing Life Stories, is used in writing programs around the world. His work has been published in Harper's, the Atlantic Monthly, Playboy, the New York Times Magazine, Granta, New York, and dozens of other magazines and journals. Life Among Giants was an Editor's Pick for Amazon's Best 2012, a Shelf Awareness Top Ten Best Fiction for 2012, and a winner of the Maine Literary Award for Fiction.

Review:

"From the composition classroom to the biology lab--any teacher who makes writing a key component of the learning process will find this new anthology a creative and thought-provoking resource. Using the diaries, memoirs, science essays, travel writings, and literary journalism of some of
America's most gifted writers, Bill Roorbach brings creative nonfiction across disciplinary boundaries and into the classroom."--Dana Sobyra in The Chronicle of Higher Education

"This text is one of the best, if not the best, that I have encountered in thirty years of teaching. It introduced me to at least a dozen wonderful writers and re-introduced me to many more I'd lost track of. The selections are consistently excellent."--Rick Case, Maui Community College,
HI

"An important contribution to an emerging field."--Adebayo Williams, Savannah College of Art and Design

"A superior collection of the various forms of creative nonfiction."--Albert DiBartolomeo, Drexel University

"An unbelievably comprehensive resource for instructors and students alike. The organization by genre and the clarity of the sample readings anthologized in each section both introduces readers to the diverse possibilities of creative nonfiction and leaves them with a heightened appreciation
for the power of the prose of 'truth' writing."--Heather Fester, Bowling Green State University

About this edition

• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0195135563
• ISBN 13: 9780195135565
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 576
• Editor: Roorbach Bill