The New New Journalism: Conversations with Americas Best Nonfiction Writers on Their Craft

Product DescriptionForty years after Tom Wolfe, Hunter S. Thompson, and Gay Talese launched the New Journalism movement, Robert S. Boynton sits down with nineteen practitioners of what he calls the New New Journalism to discuss their methods, writings and careers.The New New Journalists are first and foremost brilliant reporters who immerse themselves completely in their subjects. Jon Krakauer accompanies a mountaineering expedition to Everest. Ted Conover works for nearly a year as a prison guard. Susan Orlean follows orchid fanciers to reveal an obsessive subculture few knew existed. Adrian Nicole LeBlanc spends nearly a decade reporting on a family in the South Bronx. And like their muckraking early twentiethcentury precursors, they are drawn to the most pressing issues of the day: Alex Kotlowitz, Leon Dash, and William Finnegan to race and class; Ron Rosenbaum to the problem of evil; Michael Lewis to boomandbust economies; Richard Ben Cramer to the nitty gritty of politics. How do they do it? In these interviews, they reveal the techniques and inspirations behind their acclaimed works, from their felttip pens, tape recorders, long car rides, and assumed identities; to their intimate understanding of the way a truly great story unfolds.Interviews with:Gay TaleseJane KramerCalvin TrillinRichard Ben CramerTed ConoverAlex KotlowitzRichard PrestonWilliam LangewiescheEric SchlosserLeon DashWilliam FinneganJonathan HarrJon KrakauerAdrian Nicole LeBlancMichael LewisSusan OrleanRon RosenbaumLawrence WeschlerLawrence WrightFrom Publishers WeeklyBoynton uses the clunky moniker new new journalism to describe a group of reporters today who write article and booklength examinations of their subjects, often pioneering new reporting techniques (such as Adrian Nicole Leblancs trick of leaving her tape recorder with her subjects when she went home as a way of getting them to open up without her arounda method that worked to wonderful effect in her Random Family). Yet, Boynton points out, these writers also stay true to strict journalistic standards, unlike Tom Wolfe and the New Journalists, whose creative narrative methods broke all the rules. Many of the reporters Boynton highlights are also motivated by an activist impulse that informs but never overpowers their work. Boynton, the director of New York Universitys magazine journalism program, offers a nutsandbolts approach to understanding the way these reporters write, interviewing them on the smallest of details, such as how they organize their notes, what color pens they use and how they set ground rules with sources who arent media savvy. Featuring lengthy discussions with star scribes such as William Langewiesche (American Ground) and Michael Lewis (Moneyball), this batch of discussions is a gold mine of technique, approach and philosophy for journalists, writers and close readers alike. (Mar.)Copyright Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.From Booklist*Starred Review* Building on the tradition of literary journalismfrom nineteenthcentury writers Lincoln Steffens and Stephen Crane through Tom Wolfe and Norman Mailerthe latest practitioners continue to apply keen skills of social observation and to enjoy public acclaim that promises continued support for this predominantly American craft. Boynton offers interviews with 19 writers who detail how and why they produce their work: Alex Kotlowitz tends to stumble onto his subjects, Jon Krakauer hates interviewing people in restaurants, Leon Dash refuses to become emotionally involved with his subjects, Jane Kramer appreciates the stylistic prose of literary nonfiction writers, Richard Preston is mechanically inept and prefers to take notes rather than use a tape recorder, and Ron Rosenbaum prefers the typewriter to the computer. Interviewees also include Gay Talese, William Finnegan, Susan Orlean, and Lawrence Weschler. Boynton asks the writer