An account of the emergence of creative nonfiction, written by the godfather of the genre

When [Gutkind] stops to look back on his own evolving perspective . . . [and] reflects upon his writing career, the choices he made . . . he puts himself, and us, right back in the momentand the results are vivid, ambiguous, emotionally resonant, fascinating.Lucas Mann, Washington Post

In the 1970s, Lee Gutkind, a leather-clad hippie motorcyclist and former public relations writer, fought his way into the academy. Then he took on his colleagues. His goal: to make creative nonfiction an accepted academic discipline, one as vital as poetry, drama, and fiction. In this book Gutkind tells the true story of how creative nonfiction became a leading genre for both readers and writers.

Creative nonfictiontrue stories enriched by relevant ideas, insights, and intimaciesoffered liberation to writers, allowing them to push their work in freewheeling directions. The genre also opened doors to outsidersdoctors, lawyers, construction workerswho felt they had stories to tell about their lives and experiences.

Gutkind documents the evolution of the genre, discussing the lives and work of such practitioners as Joan Didion, Tom Wolfe, Norman Mailer, James Baldwin, Zora Neale Hurston, Rachel Carson, Upton Sinclair, Janet Malcolm, and Vivian Gornick. Gutkind also highlights the ethics of writing creative nonfiction, including how writers handle the distinctions between fact and fiction.

Gutkinds book narrates the story not just of a genre but of the person who brought it to the forefront of the literary and journalistic world.