The Gang That Wouldn’t Write Straight: Wolfe, Thompson, Didion, and the New Journalism Revolution - by Marc Weingarten, 2005
Marc Weingarten has interviewed many of the major players to provide a startling behind-the-scenes account of the rise and fall of the most revolutionary literary outpouring of the postwar era, set against the backdrop of some of the most turbulent�and significant�years in contemporary American life. These are the stories behind those stories, from Tom Wolfe’s white-suited adventures in the counterculture to Hunter S. Thompson’s drug-addled invention of gonzo to Michael Herr’s redefinition of war reporting in the hell of Vietnam. Weingarten also tells the deeper backstory, recounting the rich and surprising history of the editors and the magazines who made the movement possible, notably the three greatest editors of the era�Harold Hayes at Esquire, Clay Felker at New York, and Jann Wenner at Rolling Stone. And finally Weingarten takes us through the demise of the New Journalists, the result of a combination of hubris, miscalculation, and corporate menacing.
Posted by beanybabe at 10:02 PM PST
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Literary Journalism - by Norman Sims, Mark Kramer, 1995
Memoirs and personal essays, profiles, science and nature reportage, travel writing - literary journalists are working in all of these forms with artful styles and fresh approaches, and they make money with articles that are in high demand. In Literary Journalism, editors Norman Sims and Mark Kramer have collected the finest examples of literary journalism from both the masters of the genre who have been working for decades and the new voices freshly arrived on the national scene. From these examples you can learn what turns the ordinary essay into a literary work of art.
Posted by beanybabe at 9:40 PM PST
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Living Legacies: How to Write, Illustrate, and Share Your Life Stories - by Duane Elgin, Coleen Ledrew, 2001
Writers sometimes begin to write with short stories, and sometimes through nonfiction articles. Writing about life stories is what it’s all about in the long run. You write about what you know, research what you don’t know, and share the end result with the world - or just with your loved ones. This beautifully designed and illustrated guide escorts readers through the process of writing down their stories and illustrating them with photographs, memorabilia, and other images, including digital format (so you become a designer as well as a writer!). By offering readers questions to draw out events and memories, the book emphasizes a person’s full life, in all of its highs and lows, magic moments, and simple pleasures. The book’s supportive approach will inspire even first-time writers to forge a collection of stories to share and pass on to the important people in their lives.
Posted by beanybabe at 9:34 PM PST
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The Fast Track Course on How to Write a Nonfiction Book Proposal - by Stephen Blake Mettee, 2001
According to Stephen Mettee, a book proposal, like a woman’s skirt, should be “short enough to be interesting, but long enough to cover the subject.” The same could be said for a book about writing such a proposal. Mettee’s Fast-Track Course on How to Write a Nonfiction Book Proposal, checks in at a mere 113 pages. He doesn’t hold your hand, because he presumes that you’ve tried to write a proposal before. But he provides a clear, concise, and workable solution to selling your nonfiction book. His idea of a book proposal is a 10-page to 50-page document consisting of a synopsis, a table of contents, a chapter-by-chapter outline, a few sample chapters, and supporting material. Mettee provides simple descriptions of each, as well as a sample query letter, a book proposal, and a contract. Since Mettee’s a publisher himself (at Quill Driver Books), the user feels confident following his lead when he recommends sending the proposal along with the query (giving the editor one less chance to say “no”) and making multiple submissions (even to publishers that claim not to accept them).
Posted by beanybabe at 9:24 PM PST
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