The Nonfictionist's Guide

Reviews / Votes

This up-to-the-minute, extraordinarily well-informed, and highly suggestive book cannot help but be valuable to writers and teachers of the genre. Robert Root has read widely and pondered deeply the patterns and perplexities that underlie the practice of literary nonfiction. A marvelously commonsensical addition to the literature. -- Phillip Lopate, author, The Art of the Personal Essay: An Anthology from the Classical Era to the Present Root's is a welcome calm, clear voice in the often-confusing discussions surrounding what some refer to as the 'fourth genre,' i.e., literary nonfiction. Offering a 'poetics' of nonfiction, [he] provides an incisive exploration of the myriad terms for the genre and lively discussions of the range and depth of experimental forms within it and of research, truth, the segmented essay, and the role of 'white space.' * Choice Reviews * [A]n invaluable tool for the classroom and any writer in the field. -- Kristen Iversen, The University of Memphis The Nonfictionist's Guide is essential reading for all writers and teachers of creative nonfiction. In clear and elegant prose, Robert Root explores the deepest questions about the genre and demonstrates how to shape nonfiction texts that aspire to the condition of art. -- Rebecca McClanahan, author, Word Painting: A Guide to Writing More Descriptively and The Riddle Song and Other Rememberings