Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with non-fiction

Great Non-Fiction of the past year?

Rocket26 — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 07:15:53 -0800

The best non-fiction books of 2009? I'm in a Christmas coma and need something good. I hope this hasn't been asked before, I'm headed to the bookstore soon so I'm looking for something stat. Thanks!

Can you help me find this essay?

codacorolla — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 20:18:01 -0800

I'm looking for a World War 2 essay that may be titled "Missing the War", which is about the difference in perception between how the Second World War was portrayed in the media and how it was for the soldiers involved. I remember reading it in a best-of essay collection that might've been published in 2006 or 2007. Google searching for that title doesn't bring up anything similar. It's a really great essay, and probably some of the best war writing I've ever read.

Simple, Powerful, non-fiction

elationfoundation — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 09:06:51 -0800

Where can I find examples of simple and powerful non-fiction (social science) writing? I am working on developing my writing and have found it difficult to emulate writers in my field (sociology). I would like to make my writing simple so that it can be read among multiple disciplines and by practitioners. In my searches for writers I have found some great fiction writers who have simple styles, but little non-fiction. What are some good examples of writers like this.

Help me get this book out of my office and onto shelves.

Sophie1 — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 08:55:12 -0800

I need a new name!!! I've written a book for friends and non-primary caregiver family (NOT for primary caregivers) regarding illness and death. The book includes things you can do and say as a friend or peripheral relative for someone in the hospital, at home bedridden, survivors of violence, young people, older people, grieving families. It also includes some of the things not to do and say.

I have a name for the book but it seems not to be working with publishers/agents. I'm not going to write the name because it tends to influence what people think about the book. Second, I can't for the life of me, come up with an elevator speech that makes sense which is probably preventing me from getting it sold.

Pretty much everyone who has reviewed the completed manuscript says a version of "OMG, I so needed this when my (mother/spouse/ friend) was in the hospital. Why hasn't this been published? Can I have a copy to give to my ______?" I had an agent for two years but she pretty much didn't do anything with it and I ended our contract.

So, my two questions are,
(1) What should I name this book? and
(2) Can you come up with an elevator speech that makes sense?

For the moment, I don't want to self-publish for various reasons. So there's that.

Thank you in advance for all of your help.

Oh, also, I have a very long and very strong background in health/illness/grief and social services.

I Like To Read Things

turgid dahlia — Thu, 01 May 2008 16:21:50 -0800

What are some of your absolute favourite online essays, articles and other pieces of non-fiction writing? Pursuant to this post and the excellent linked essay, I have found my appetite whetted for some more fine pieces of journalism, reportage, history, criticism, review, everything and anything. I have trawled the online archives of The Atlantic and The New Yorker because I love to have something fresh and interesting to print out and read on my lunch break.

Basically I'm after singular examples of quality online writing (no fiction, thanks, I have more than enough of that), not necessarily for the beauty of the prose or even for the content of the story - I just want one of those (preferably big) articles you can't stop reading, and at the end you want to show it to everybody you know because it's just so amazing, and you wish you had read it sooner.

For reference, one of my favourites is the wonderful B.R. Myer's piece A Reader's Manifesto, from The Atlantic Monthly.

First AskMe, please be gentle.

Books on India

hadjiboy — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 20:32:20 -0800

If you please—I urgently require a few good recommendations of novels that have India as a backdrop. It should be set up in India, so that a foreigner can understand a bit about Indian Society, their traditions, and customs. I’m asking this so that I can gift the book to a friend of mine, who is a foreigner, and will be leaving shortly. So I would appreciate it if you could reply as soon as possible. Thanking you very much in advance!

What makes for good jail reading?

suki — Sun, 04 Nov 2007 06:54:18 -0800

What books should I buy for someone in jail? My beloved motorcycle mechanic is in jail for a few weeks and I'd like to send him some books to help him pass the time. I can only order the books from Amazon and have them sent directly to him.

The last books he read were by Dostoyevsky and Flannery O'Connor. He says he'd like to use the time to read more classics and non-fiction books that address large philosophical issues. Or anything that explains internal combustion.

I was thinking about buying him three books - one big fiction classic (perhaps V or Gravity's Rainbow), one non-fiction book, and one "light" read.

Thank you!

Disaster Escapism?

2bucksplus — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 14:19:10 -0800

I read and loved “In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex” by Nathaniel Philbrick. What other books should I read? What other great, disastrous (non-fiction) adventures should I be reading about? I much prefer “modern” books that take a variety of contemporary sources juxtaposed with historical data (as Philbrick did) to one-person narratives.

Also, I remember reading a brief summary about a lost crew of Spanish sailors in the 1600s that capsized off of modern Tampa Bay and hiked overland to Mexico City. Ring any bells for anyone? Is there a book about this?

Give me knowledge

almostcool — Wed, 07 Mar 2007 14:00:59 -0800

Looking for mythological, fictional, and / or non-fictional characters and / or stories of a certain nature. I'm hoping to make this as short-winded as possible, but I'm looking for all of the aforementioned in regards to characters (etc) who don't know their own strength (or simply fail to grasp the delicate qualities of life) and cause damage because of this.

Some that I've come up with so far are...

Paul Bunyan (drags his axe handle and carves out the Grand Canyon)
Lennie from Of Mice And Men (accidentally kills Curley's wife)
Frankenstein (throws the girl in the lake where she drowns)

I'm doing some research on this and would love some more references. Thanks.

What's the best non-fiction I haven't found yet?

croutonsupafreak — Tue, 22 Aug 2006 22:25:23 -0800

I'm looking for more great non-fiction books. Requirements: writing to make an English major swoon; a thesis or narrative structure that makes for an organized, logical flow; well-reported; interesting; true, with embellishments of known fact made known by the author. Great non-fiction gives me thrills, but I guess I have pretty high standards. I'm hard to please.

The best non-fiction book I've read recently was "The Guns of August," by Barbara Tuchman. Her prose was amazing, each sentence lead into the next, each chapter led into the next. The book has themes, a thesis and a narrative. And it's well footnoted, too.

Other books that are pretty good:
* "Under the Banner of Heavan" by John Krakauer -- fascinating subject, strong writing, well-reported, good flow, doesn't quite sing.
* "Devil in the White City," -- passages of great writing, well organized, but occasionally limping flow.

Frustrating books:
* "The Outlaw Sea," by William Langewiesche -- fantastic writing, great subject, but no central thesis stronger than "the ocean is vast and underestimated" and no sense of flow between the chapters.
* "Fast Food Nation"-- Compelling enough, I guess, but the writing was too preachy and ordinary.
* Any non-fiction by Tom Wolfe or Hunter S. Thompson -- fun to read, but not particularly artful writing and not much of a deep plot.

Never again:
* "Salt," by Mark Kurlansky -- Each chapter is a series of grammatically correct sentences on a single subject, with no clear organization. The various chapters are arranged in no particular order. No thesis. No narrative. No apparent point.

Wouldn't qualify:
* "In Cold Blood," Truman Capote -- I love this book, its writing, its structure, but too much of it comes from the writer's own imagination to qualify as non-fiction by my definition.

Cool Non-Fiction Book Filter

cyclopz — Mon, 14 Aug 2006 08:01:36 -0800

I need a book suggestion...something slightly off the beaten path in the biography, history, science, or world politics categories. (more details inside) I recently had a series of business meetings with a guy and over lunch one afternoon we wandered into a discussion of a book he was reading that caught my attention (Francis Crick biography). Several days later the book showed up on my desk with a nice note. I would like to reciprocate but I am struggling to come up with something as interesting and unusual for a really nice guy that I just met.

Please recommend great non-fiction books & documentary films

njm — Wed, 26 Jul 2006 13:58:57 -0800

What non-fiction books or documentary films explore a subculture or lifestyle as effectively as Henry Chalfant & Tony Silver's Style Wars and Hunter S. Thompson's Hell's Angels? Both of these works are the result of an author/filmmaker gaining acceptance into a group of unique individuals and clearly expressing the stories and personalities within it.

Here are a few books in a similar style that I've read so far:

Hunter S. Thompson - Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72, etc.
Tom Wolfe - The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, The Right Stuff, etc.
David Simon - Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets
H.G. Bissinger - Friday Night Lights
Evan Wright - Generation Kill
Susan Orlean - The Orchid Thief
Joe Sacco - Safe Area Gorazde, Palestine, The Fixer, etc.

What have I missed?

Good non-fiction books about comic books?

Runkst — Sun, 23 Jul 2006 13:17:11 -0800

Anybody know any good non-fiction books about comic books, their publishers, their history, etc?

Urban Hiker, where have you hiked to now?

amtho — Fri, 09 Jun 2006 19:10:25 -0800

What happened to "Urban Hiker" magazine in the triangle region of NC? For those not from here, it was a free little newsprint-magazine I used to be able to pick up and read with my lunch once in a while; it was all about non-fiction stories told from the first person. It seemed to have plenty of advertising, enthusiastic support... I read it almost every month, then, a while ago, it disappeared.

I know there are some Triangle-ites (Durham, Chapel Hill, Raleigh North Carolina area residents) here; sorry to be so locally focused, but I don't know who else to ask. Did something happen to the editor(s)?

Writing biography or history

Tin Man — Thu, 18 May 2006 11:19:56 -0800

How would I write a biography or history book? The general idea seems like a fun one, but I'd have no idea where to start. First problem: picking a subject. Second problem: how do you do historical research into a person or topic? I have no idea how to begin something like this, even though I was a history major and have a law degree, both of which involved some research skills. It seems like a big undertaking, but it's something I'm curious about.

Writing Nonfiction, how does one organize it?

TwelveTwo — Fri, 13 Jan 2006 22:45:37 -0800

I think it would be a kick to write a nonfiction book. Any advice on how to organize one? To specify, I'm looking for both advice as well as any recommended books on the topic. Also, if people know of any books that are great examples of organization, that would also be a great help. But please, nothing about publication.

Can you recommend a well-written figure skaters bio?

orange swan — Mon, 02 Jan 2006 09:19:53 -0800

Can you recommend a well-written figure skater's autobiography or biography? A lot of athlete bios are commerical drek, and are products rather than books, though there are some thoughtful and intelligent ones here and there. So, if anyone could steer me to one of the latter, I'd be profoundly grateful. I'm reading this as research for a writing project, not for pleasure, and am hoping to find something that is at least painless to read.

Can you recommend any great books on fashion and style?

orange swan — Wed, 18 May 2005 20:41:08 -0800

Can you recommend any great books on fashion and style? I have a tiny collection of books on women's fashion and style that I'd like to add to. So far I have (and have all but memorized): Simple Isn't Easy, by Olivia Goldsmith and Amy Fine Collins; A Guide to Elegance, by Genevieve Antoine Dariaux; and Vogue's More Dash Than Cash. I'm not looking for books that tell you to buy ten specific things, nor that contain advice that will be out of date by next week. Rather, I'm looking for books that give timeless advice and discuss style in an intelligent and insightful way. An ideal book for my collection will age gracefully and still be of general use 20 years from now (and indeed, the newest of the three I've named is from 1994).

What materials do you recommend on the Edwardian era?

orange swan — Tue, 01 Mar 2005 06:11:25 -0800

I'm trying to learn about the Edwardian era especially (but not exclusively) in England, Ireland, and Canada. What excellent materials (fiction and non-fiction books, movies, websites, etc.) have you read and seen about this period?

What is a good process to follow when pitching ideas to publishers?

theNonsuch — Mon, 24 May 2004 08:28:47 -0800

I have what I think is a great idea for a web / design-related book that I'd like to shop around. Can anyone who has been published before offer any advice, links, or a good process to follow when pitching ideas to publishers? (more detail in comments) A rough list of the publishers that could publish this book (to give you an idea of content): Peachpit, New Riders, GlassHaus, Wiley (professional division), maybe others I haven't though of yet.

The book idea is more of a theory book than a technical overview, so O'Reilly isn't really a possibility. Oh, and I have writing experience, but more of the newspaper / magazine kind than with longer formats like books.