2012 nonfiction trends: the conclusion.
12 February 2012
Let's wrap up this series on nonfiction trends in 2012, with a little question-and-answer.
Q: So are there any 2012 nonfiction titles that you DO want to read, CR, you big crank?
A: Why yes, as a matter of fact, there are. Not many, though.
Q: Okay, so what are they?
A: Well, there is one title that actually made me go, "oooh," in a high-pitched falsetto. (This is a good thing.) That title is The Lifespan of a Fact, by John D'Agata and Jim Fingal, which is based on the correspondence between a nonfiction author and his fact-checker. That's pure awesomeness. It seems to be getting a lot of press, although not all of it is good.
Q: But that's it? Just the one title? What, are you ridiculously picky or something?
A: Yes, now that I have less time to read, I do find myself becoming a bit more, as you say, "ridiculously picky." But I also wouldn't push these forthcoming books out of bed for eating crackers:
Any of the new biographies on Queen Elizabeth
Susan Sontag: As Consciousness Is Harnessed to Flesh (just based on that title alone)
Colm Toibin: New Ways to Kill Your Mother: Writers and Their Families
Michael J. Sandel: What Money Can't Buy: The Moral Limits of Markets
Julia Fox: Sister Queens: The Noble, Tragic Lives of Katherine of Aragon and Juana, Queen of Castille
Craig Taylor: Londoners (an oral history--I'm actually pumped pumped PUMPED to get a look at this one)
Baldwin Rosecrans: Paris, I Love You But You're Bringing Me Down (Another one where I am primarily charmed by the title)
Rachel Cusk: Aftermath: On Marriage and Separation (I just love Rachel Cusk.)
Caitlin Flanagan: Girl Land (Flanagan just makes me laugh; I enjoy how feminists hate her SO MUCH, and yet even they have to admit she can really write)
Q: That's all you can find, out of 300+ titles?
A: Well, yeah. See aforementioned "crank" and "less time for reading" disclaimers. If it's shiny happy book coverage you're looking for, well, go to most any other lit blog besides this one.