Literary Journalism

The Parrot and the Cannon is a study of the inception and development of Latin American literary journalism and the emergence of an original Latin American literature. Narrative journalism has played a central role in the formation of national identities of the various countries and in the supra-national idea of Latin America as a consolidated region. Beginning in the 1840s and ending in the 1970s, Calvi connects the evolution of literary journalism with the consolidation of Latin America’s literary sphere, the professional practice of journalism, the development of the modern mass media, and the establishment of nation-states in the region.

Some of the best and most original prose in America today is being written by literary journalists. 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. 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. The fifteen essays gathered here include: -- John McPhee's account of the battle between army engineers and the lower Mississippi River -- Susan Orlean's brilliant portrait of the private, imaginative world of a ten-year-old boy -- Tracy Kidder's moving description of life in a nursing home -- Ted Conover's wild journey in an African truck convoy while investigating the spread of AIDS -- Richard Preston's bright piece about two shy Russian mathematicians who live in Manhattan and search for order in a random universe -- Joseph Mitchell's classic essay on the rivermen of Edgewater, New Jersey -- And nine more fascinating pieces of the nation's best new writing In the last decade this unique form of writing has grown exuberantly -- and now, in Literary Journalism, we celebrate fifteen of our most dazzling writers as they work with great vitality and astonishing variety.

The debate surrounding "fake news" versus "real" news is nothing new. From Jonathan Swift's work as an acerbic, anonymous journal editor-turned-novelist to reporter Mark Twain's hoax stories to Mary Ann Evans' literary reviews written under her pseudonym, George Eliot, famous journalists and literary figures have always mixed fact, imagination and critical commentary to produce memorable works. Contrasting the rival yet complementary traditions of "literary" or "new" journalism in Britain and the U.S., this study explores the credibility of some of the "great" works of English literature.

The Art of Fact The Tools of the Reporter The Craft of the Novelist The literary journalists are marvelous observers whose meticulous attention to detail is wedded to the tools and techniques of the fiction writer. Like reporters, they are fact gatherers whose material is the real world. Like fiction writers, they are consummate storytellers who endow their stories with a narrative structure and a distinctive voice. Literary journalists range from such bestselling authors as Tom Wolfe, Joan Didion, and Sara Davidson, to new writers like Mark Kramer and Richard West. What they share is a complete immersion in their subjects. A DAZZLING COLLECTION OF GREAT WRITING Interviews with literary journalists conducted especially for this book make this not only a superb collection to read and enjoy but the definitive work on some of the most exciting, influential, and critically acclaimed writing of our time.

"Slovenia is acquiring some volume of literary journalism written by Slovene journalists and writers. Author Sonja Merljak Zdovc suggests that more Slovene writers should prefer literary journalism because nonfiction is based on truth, facts, and data and appeals more to readers interested in real world stories. The honest, precise, profound, and sophisticated voice of literary journalism is becoming increasingly good for newspaper circulation, as it reaches not just the mind but also the heart of the reader. Thus the world of Slovene journalism should also take a rapid turn towards the stylized literary journalism seen in the United States. There journalists and writers realize that through literary journalism they could perhaps end a general decline of traditional print media by restoring to readers stories that uncover the universal struggle of the human condition."--BOOK JACKET.

This book provides an account of the early periodical as a literary genre. Tracing the development of journalism from the 1690s to the 1760s, it covers a range of publications by well-known writers and obscure hacks.

Journalism in the twentieth century was marked by the rise of literary journalism. Sims traces more than a century of its history, examining the cultural connections, competing journalistic schools of thought, and innovative writers that have given literary journalism its power. Seminal exmples of the genre provide ample context and background for the study of this style of journalism.

Taking a thematic approach, this new companion provides an interdisciplinary, cross-cultural, and international study of American literary journalism. From the work of Frederick Douglass and Walt Whitman to that of Joan Didion and Dorothy Parker, literary journalism is a genre that both reveals and shapes American history and identity. This volume not only calls attention to literary journalism as a distinctive genre but also provides a critical foundation for future scholarship. It brings together cutting-edge research from literary journalism scholars, examining historical perspectives; themes, venues, and genres across time; theoretical approaches and disciplinary intersections; and new directions for scholarly inquiry. Provoking reconsideration and inquiry, while providing new historical interpretations, this companion recognizes, interacts with, and honors the tradition and legacies of American literary journalism scholarship. Engaging the work of disciplines such as sociology, anthropology, African American studies, gender studies, visual studies, media studies, and American studies, in addition to journalism and literary studies, this book is perfect for students and scholars of those disciplines.