Literary Non-Fiction Reading List
Some literary nonfiction leans more toward memoir. Other stuff is more journalistic. Those pieces which
are more journalistic can almost always be found for free, either in part or in whole, online. I have tried
to include some links to free stuff when I think of it.
About Literary Nonfiction
Applegate, Edd. Literary Journalism: A Biographical Dictionary of Writers and Editors (1996). ISBN: 9780313299490
Boynton, Robert. The New New Journalism: Conversations with America’s Best Nonfiction Writers on
Their Craft (2005). ISBN: 978-1400033560
Kerrane, Kevin and Ben Yagoda. The Art of Fact: A Historical Anthology of Literary Journalism (1998).
ISBN: 978-0684846309
Sims, Norman and Mark Kramer. Literary Journalism: A New Collection of the Best American Nonfiction
(1995). ISBN: 978-0345382221
Famous Stuff
Agee, James and Walker Evans. Let Us Now Praise Famous Men (1941). ISBN: 978-0395489017 (Free
excerpt, PDF)
Baldwin, James. James Baldwin: Collected Essays (Library of America) (1998). ISBN: 978-1883011529
(Baldwin is wonderful. Here he is talking about the N-word and here’s a free PDF of one of his
essays, “Notes of a Native Son”)
Capote, Truman. In Cold Blood (1965). (Free PDF)
Crane, Stephen. Stephen Crane: Prose and Poetry (Library of America) (1984). ISBN: 978-0940450172
(Crane Example: “An Experiment in Misery”)
De Saint-Exupery, Antoine. Wind, Sand, and Stars (1939). ISBN: 978-0156027496 (Known for the
children’s book The Little Prince, this book reveals some of the inspiration for that book)
Kingston, Maxine Hong. The Woman Warrior (1989). ISBN: 978-0679721888 (She’s just amazing. Here’s
Kingston reading at Berkeley)
London, Jack. Jack London: Novels and Social Writings (Library of America) (1982). ISBN: 9780940450066
Steinbeck, John. Once There Was a War (1943). (Free Preview on Google Books. You’ll also want to
check out his collection America and Americans)
---. Travels with Charley: In Search of America (1962). ISBN: 978-0140053203 (Free in parts, PDF)
Thompson, Hunter S. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1971). ISBN: 978-0679785897
Whitman, Walt. The Whitman Archive (Better than just about anything in print) (Whitman Example:
“Our Wounded and Sick Soldiers”)
More Contemporary Stuff
Note: If I really like one of these, I try to give you some more info.
Conley, Dalton. Honky (2000). ISBN: 978-0375727757 (Conley talking about research)
Dillard, Annie. Pilgrim at Tinker Creek (1974). ISBN: 978-0061233326.
Eggers, Dave. A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius (2001). ISBN: 978-0375725784 (Eggers does
Ted Talks) About Eggers raising his brother while his mother dies of cancer. Ridiculously sad.
Gilbert, Elizabeth. Eat Pray Love (2007). ISBN: 978-0143038412 (Gets a LOT of grief for being too
romantic, for Gilbert being too privileged, etc. I think it’s pretty beautiful – at least the first two
thirds. Here’s Gilbert talking about genius).
Horwitz, Tony. Confederates in the Attic: Dispatches from the Unfinished Civil War (1999). ISBN: 9780679758334 (Some Book TV goodness on C-Span)
Krakauer, Jon. Under the Banner of Heaven (2003). ISBN: 978-1400032808. Better known for his work on
expeditions such as Into Thin Air and Into the Wild, this one is about fundamentalist Mormons
(Krakauer on NPR talking about the book)
Maclean, Norman. A River Runs Through It and Other Stories (1976). ISBN: 978-0226500669.
Mullaney, Craig M. The Unforgiving Minute: A Soldier’s Education (2010). ISBN: 978-0143116875 (About
a veteran of Afghanistan. If you like this, you might check out the more fiction but still
autobiographical The Yellow Birds by Kevin Powers)
Nazario, Sonia. Enrique’s Journey (2007). ISBN: 978-0812971781 (Interview with Sonia Nazario)
Pollan, Michael. The Botany of Desire: A Plant’s-Eye View of the World (2002). ISBN: 978-0375760396
(Free PBS Movie)
Preston, Richard. The Hot Zone (1995). ISBN: 978-0385479561.
Sedaris, David. Me Talk Pretty One Day (2001). ISBN: 978-0316776967 (Sedaris on NPR’s This American
Life)
Solnit, Rebecca. Wanderlust: A History of Walking (2001). ISBN: 978-0140286014.
Strayed, Cheryl. Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail (2013). ISBN: 978-0307476074.
Tobar, Héctor. Translation Nation: Defining a New American Identity in the Spanish-Speaking United
States (2006). ISBN: 978-1594481765. (Pretty much like The Grapes of Wrath for Latinos).
Vowell, Sarah. The Wordy Shipmates (2009). ISBN: 978-1594484001 (All of her books are fantastic.
Others include Unfamiliar Fishes about the colonization of Hawaii and A Partly Cloudy Patriot.
Here’s a nifty look at Vowell that gives you a sense of her humor and POV)
Wallace, David Foster. Consider the Lobster and Other Essays (2005). ISBN: 978-0316013321 (An
incredibly heartfelt and funny collection. Here’s a free PDF of the title essay “Consider the
Lobster” and my favorite essay, about DFW at a porn convention, “Big Red Son.” DFW is one of
my favorite authors, so I can also highly recommend A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again:
Essay and Arguments, and here’s a PDF of the title story from that collection, originally titled
“Shipping Out.” And, of course, if you have never read his 2005 address to Kenyon, here you go,
“This is Water”).
Wilson, Sean Michael and Carl Thompson. Parecomic: The Story of Michael Albert and Participatory
Economics (2013). ISBN: 978-1609804565 (This is a graphic narrative).
Winerip, Michael. 9 Highland Road: Sane Living for the Mentally Ill (1995). ISBN: 978-0679761600.
(Michael Winerip talking about ethics – be warned, the prof who intros takes 8 minutes to intro)
Winchester, Simon. The Man Who Loved China (2009). ISBN: 978-0060884611.