New Short Nonfiction Collections
It bears repeating that we are excited about our Holiday Gift Selections for 2007 so please click on the link and browse through them while online to learn which books, movies, and CDs our staff carefully chose as some of the best new gifts available this year. The print copy will be reaching the stores soon. In addition, I suggest two other books of essays you won't want to miss - The New Kings of Nonfiction, edited by Ira Glass and The Conde Nast Traveler Book of Unforgettable Journeys - Great Writers on Great Places.
Ira Glass' distinctive voice is the signature of NPR's This American Life, and many of the essayists and journalists from his new collection, The New Kings of Nonfiction have been featured on that program. His premise in this collection recognizes that there is a new breed of journalist who recognizes that he (or she) is not, cannot be, objective, and that his or her viewpoint might be part of the story, may actually make it more interesting and human to the reader. This is distinct from the New Journalism of the late 60s and early 70s in which writers like Hunter Thompson actually created and became the story. These new writers simply are aware of themselves as people to whom their interview subjects are reacting and responding, and are gifted enough storytellers to share their account in first person rather than claim journalistic omniscience. It's an important development.
Mark Bowden's "Tales of the Tyrant" is a fantastic cultural look into the psychology of Saddam Hussein. David Foster Wallace's reportage of the world of the modern radio talk-show host is actually an insight into his own complex thinking patterns and an example of footnotes and asides gone crazy. And James McManus joined a competitive poker game to report on it, and nearly ended up winning!
While some of the essays in this collection can't really be considered new (Bill Buford's Among the Thugs is old territory now, and Malcolm Gladwell has developed a notoriety that doesn't need Ira Glass' promotion) and in some cases, are honestly dated (Susan Orlean's "The American Male, Age 10" was written in 1992, and 10-year olds fifteen years later are truly a different breed altogether), nonetheless, even in these cases, the book is a compelling reminder of what makes these writers so stylistically unique, gifted, and original in their perspectives. The New Kings of Nonfiction (Riverhead, $15) would be a great gift for a young hipster or budding journalist, or a fantastic way to pass the time on your daily public transportation commute.
Conde Nast Traveler magazine is regarded for providing travel reviews that are unsolicited and for which, as far as possible, the reviewers travel anonymously without receiving special treatment from the places they visit. The Conde Nast Traveler Book of Unforgettable Journeys - Great Writers on Great Places reprints essays by well-known writers that have appeared previously in the magazine. Simon Winchester takes you hiking to the rim of a volcano in the Philippines. Francine Prose walks in the footsteps of Kafka in Prague. Pico Iyer explores the intangible fairy-tale element of Iceland. John Julius Norwich initiates the reader into the Vatican City. James Truman reverently shares the legends, history, and artistry of Iran. These are some of my favorites.
Robert Hughes takes the reader to visit a culture conquered - and appropriated - by Rome, that of the Etruscans. Apparently, much of Roman culture, religion, and political identity was originally Etruscan. Etruscan gods and symbols became Roman. Hughes gives a brief introduction, teaching about their language and what little is known of it, their tombs and paintings ("the greatest corpus of flat painting from the ancient world still in existence"), and where to go when in Italy.
Nicole Krauss and her husband wanted to create a Japanese garden behind their house in Brooklyn, so they traveled to Japan to learn that it may be much harder than they imagined. She describes some beautiful places that they visited as well as sharing the philosophy and history that went into creating these living places of art and meditation. "Our first lesson: Subtle, unpredictable, elusive, a Japanese garden prefers questions to answers."
The Conde Nast Traveler Book of Unforgettable Journeys - Great Writers on Great Places (Penguin, $16) is great for armchair traveling or planning your next off-the-beaten-path adventure!
Ira Glass' distinctive voice is the signature of NPR's This American Life, and many of the essayists and journalists from his new collection, The New Kings of Nonfiction have been featured on that program. His premise in this collection recognizes that there is a new breed of journalist who recognizes that he (or she) is not, cannot be, objective, and that his or her viewpoint might be part of the story, may actually make it more interesting and human to the reader. This is distinct from the New Journalism of the late 60s and early 70s in which writers like Hunter Thompson actually created and became the story. These new writers simply are aware of themselves as people to whom their interview subjects are reacting and responding, and are gifted enough storytellers to share their account in first person rather than claim journalistic omniscience. It's an important development.Mark Bowden's "Tales of the Tyrant" is a fantastic cultural look into the psychology of Saddam Hussein. David Foster Wallace's reportage of the world of the modern radio talk-show host is actually an insight into his own complex thinking patterns and an example of footnotes and asides gone crazy. And James McManus joined a competitive poker game to report on it, and nearly ended up winning!
While some of the essays in this collection can't really be considered new (Bill Buford's Among the Thugs is old territory now, and Malcolm Gladwell has developed a notoriety that doesn't need Ira Glass' promotion) and in some cases, are honestly dated (Susan Orlean's "The American Male, Age 10" was written in 1992, and 10-year olds fifteen years later are truly a different breed altogether), nonetheless, even in these cases, the book is a compelling reminder of what makes these writers so stylistically unique, gifted, and original in their perspectives. The New Kings of Nonfiction (Riverhead, $15) would be a great gift for a young hipster or budding journalist, or a fantastic way to pass the time on your daily public transportation commute.
Conde Nast Traveler magazine is regarded for providing travel reviews that are unsolicited and for which, as far as possible, the reviewers travel anonymously without receiving special treatment from the places they visit. The Conde Nast Traveler Book of Unforgettable Journeys - Great Writers on Great Places reprints essays by well-known writers that have appeared previously in the magazine. Simon Winchester takes you hiking to the rim of a volcano in the Philippines. Francine Prose walks in the footsteps of Kafka in Prague. Pico Iyer explores the intangible fairy-tale element of Iceland. John Julius Norwich initiates the reader into the Vatican City. James Truman reverently shares the legends, history, and artistry of Iran. These are some of my favorites.Robert Hughes takes the reader to visit a culture conquered - and appropriated - by Rome, that of the Etruscans. Apparently, much of Roman culture, religion, and political identity was originally Etruscan. Etruscan gods and symbols became Roman. Hughes gives a brief introduction, teaching about their language and what little is known of it, their tombs and paintings ("the greatest corpus of flat painting from the ancient world still in existence"), and where to go when in Italy.
Nicole Krauss and her husband wanted to create a Japanese garden behind their house in Brooklyn, so they traveled to Japan to learn that it may be much harder than they imagined. She describes some beautiful places that they visited as well as sharing the philosophy and history that went into creating these living places of art and meditation. "Our first lesson: Subtle, unpredictable, elusive, a Japanese garden prefers questions to answers."
The Conde Nast Traveler Book of Unforgettable Journeys - Great Writers on Great Places (Penguin, $16) is great for armchair traveling or planning your next off-the-beaten-path adventure!
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