Genre Links for 7/1: Nonfiction
Last week NPR’s John Freeman suggested five nonfiction books to bring to the beach this summer, which got us thinking about the increasing popularity of nonfiction. Eat Pray Love and A New Earth were among the most ubiquitous books of the last couple years, popping up everywhere and fueling countless book clubs. Now some of today’s hottest authors are breaking into nonfiction, and the list of must-read titles keeps getting longer. See below for recommendations and the latest in nonfiction news.
Even these kids aren't too cool for the latest nonfiction
- This year both Dave Eggers and Jonathan Safran Foer have nonfiction projects in the works, proving once and for all that the truth is cool. Dave Eggers’ Zeitoun, an account of a Muslim-American family’s experience of Hurricane Katrina, comes out this month. Though best known for his fiction, Eggers tells The Rumpus, “My degree [...] is in journalism [...], so I still have that instinct that says to follow a story if it seems like it hasn’t been fully told.” The Zeitoun family’s story, originally part of McSweeney’s Voices From the Storm, tapped into this instinct, giving Eggers yet another title to add to his collection.
- Jonathan Safran Foer’s Eating Animals is more personal, exploring the author’s decision to be vegetarian. Foer tells The Young and Hungry that the book has a “personal narrative that weaves through it, but it makes an argument for other people” as well. Devotees of tofu and alfalfa sprouts will no doubt be curious to see how Foer words his defense, and, considering what a strong writer he is, fans of the author should prepare to say goodbye to meat come the November release date.
- If you want to whet your nonfiction whistle before Eggers’ and Foer’s books hit shelves, check out this (equally hip) nonfiction list from Vanity Fair. Authors include Stephen Hawking, Virginia Woolf, and Ernest Hemingway, to name a few. Publishers Weekly also created a best of 2008 list, which features recent titles that didn’t make it into Vanity Fair’s top 25.
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