Home About Contact

Nonfiction Genres, Subject Interests, and Styles

THE GENRES

1. Travel

  • Exotic settings;
  • the story of journeys;
  • engaging characters in unfamiliar surroundings.

Machu Authors: Bill Bryson, Tim Cahill, Bruce Chatwin, Marlena De Blasi, Tony Hawks, Pico Iyer, Frances Mayes, Peter Mayle, Jan Morris, Redmond O'Hanlon, Paul Theroux, J. Maarten Troost, David Yeadon


 

 

 

2. True Adventure

Representative authors: John Feinstein, Sebastian Junger, Jon Krakauer, Robert Kurson, James McManus, Ben Mezrich, Piers Paul Read

3. True Crime

  • Fast pace;
  • scary stories;
  • psychologically fascinating characters.

Authors: Donnie Brasco, Vincent Bugliosi, Truman Capote, Philip Carlo, Peter Maas, Joe McGinniss, Jack Olsen, Mark Olshaker, Gary Provost, Ann Rule, Harold Schechter, Lawrence Schiller, Joseph Wambaugh

4. Environmental Writing

  • Unique settings;
  • lyrical language and musings;
  • individualistic characters.

Eaarth Authors: Edward Abbey, Mary Austin, Wendell Berry, Jane Brox, Rachel Carson, Annie Dillard, Gretel Ehrlich, Tim Flannery, Jane Goodall, John Hay, William Least Heat Moon, Aldo Leopold, Barry Lopez, Bill McKibben, Farley Mowat, Michael Pollan, Scott Russell Sanders, Henry David Thoreau, Edward O. Wilson

5. Life Stories: Biographies, Memoirs, Relationships

  • The characters ARE the story;
  • pacing depends on depth of story and research;
  • subject is very important

Biographers: A. Scott Berg, Carl Bernstein, Robert Caro, Ron Chernow, Joseph Ellis, Eleanor Herman, Walter Isaacson, Kitty Kelley, Mark Kriegel, David McCullough, Cokie Roberts, Claire Tomalin, Alison Weir

Memoirists: Alan Alda, Joseph Berger, Anthony Bourdain, Rick Bragg, Augusten Burroughs, Lillian Faderman, James Frey, Atul Gawande, Debra Ginsberg, Homer Hickam, Susanna Kaysen, Haven Kimmel, Anne Lamott, Mary McCarthy, Frank McCourt, Kathleen Norris, Ruth Reichl, David Sedaris, Tobias Wolff

Relationships: Mitch Albom, Isabel Allende, Augusten Burroughs, Alexandra Fuller, John Grogan, Michael Perry, Bob Tarte, Jeannette Walls 

SUBJECTS AND STYLES

View full image6. Science and Math

  • Stories can be new and thrilling;
  • answers nonfiction readers' "need to know"
  • clean prose.

Authors: Diane Ackerman, Fritjof Capra, Arthur C. Clarke, Richard Dawkins, Timothy Ferris, Richard Feynman, James Gleick, Stephen J. Gould, Brian Greene, Stephen Hawking, Michio Kaku, Roger Penrose, Henry Petroski, Richard Preston, Matt Ridley, Oliver Sacks, Carl Sagan, Richard Schweid, Dava Sobel, James Watson, Jonathan Weiner

7. History

  • hiSTORY;
  • obviously memorable characters;
  • distinct research and writing styles.

Authors: Stephen Ambrose, Rick Atkinson, Taylor Branch, Jared Diamond, Joseph Ellis, Doris Kearns Goodwin, David Halberstam, Adam Hochschild, Mark Honigsbaum, Tony Horwitz, David Kennedy, Erik Larson, David McCullough, Nathaniel Philbrick, Simon Schama, Barbara Tuchman, Simon Winchester

View full image8. Investigative Writing

  • Compelling stories and exposes;
  • character profiles
  • skilled prose stylists.

Authors: Mark Bowden, Ted Conover, Joan Didion (essays), Barbara Ehrenreich, Thomas Friedman, Melissa Fay Greene, David Halberstam, Jonathan Harr, Jonathan Kozol, William Langewiesche, Adrian Nicole LeBlanc, Michael Lewis, Susan Orlean, Kevin Phillips, George Plimpton, Mary Roach, Eric Schlosser, Studs Terkel, Lawrence Wright (also political and business authors)

9. Making Sense (Big Think; Big Idea; Bright Lite)

  • Deeper thoughts;
  • languid pacing;
  • Less "narrative" than compelling research, synthesis, and analysis.

Authors: Alain de Botton, Jared Diamond, Harry Frankfurt, Daniel Gilbert, Malcolm Gladwell, Susan Jacoby, Naomi Klein, Anne Lamott, Alberto Manguel, Robert Putnam, Nassim Nicholas Taleb, Lynne Truss, William Vollmann