The Fourth Genre: Contemporary Writers of/on Creative Nonfiction, 2/e is a comprehensive and indispensable introduction and guide to the way creative nonfiction is written today. The selections represent a wide range of contemporary creative nonfiction, including examples in essay, memoir, literary journalism, and cultural criticism. These readings establish a thorough grounding in the nature of the genre and provide excellent models for writing. The articles about nonfiction forms, issues, and writing strategies in Part II, mostly written by authors whose work appears in Part I, give readers an inside view of the writers' creative processes. Part III consists of essays and memoirs paired with articles by their authors discussing the essays' creation and the writers' methods and strategies. Introductions to each part provide an overview of that section, preparing readers for the selections to come. Two alternative tables of contents organize the readings by subgenres and approaches, connecting the three distinctive sections of the book. For anyone interested in writing creative non-fiction.

Alternative Contents: Subgenres of Creative Nonfiction

xi

Preface: Beginning the Conversation

xv

Introduction: Creative Nonfiction, The Fourth Genre

xxiii

PART 1 Writing Creative Nonfiction

1

(222)

``In Search of Proust''

5

(8)

Andre Aciman

``Oh, Say Can You See?''

13

(6)

Phyllis Barber

``The Unwanted Child''

19

(11)

Mary Clearman Blew

``Independence Day, Manley Hot Springs, Alaska''

30

(7)

Lisa D. Chavez

``History as Fiction, Fiction as History''

37

(5)

Michelle Cliff

``Silent Dancing''

42

(7)

Judith Ortiz Cofer

``Running the Table''

49

(5)

Frank Conroy

``Living Like Weasels''

54

(4)

Annie Dillard

``From a Sheepherder's Notebook: Three Days''

58

(4)

Gretel Ehrlich

``Northeast Direct''

62

(4)

Dagoberto Gilb

``Oval''

66

(2)

Gail Griffin

``Parish Streets''

68

(8)

Patricia Hampl

``Can an Ape Tell a Joke?''

76

(11)

Vicki Hearne

``Walking''

87

(3)

Linda Hogan

``Where Worlds Collide''

90

(10)

Pico Iyer

``Life in Motion''

100

(5)

Nicole Lamy

``Portrait of My Body''

105

(8)

Phillip Lopate

``Brothers''

113

(4)

Bret Lott

``From Birnam Wood to Dunsinane''

117

(7)

John McPhee

``The Queimada''

124

(6)

Michele Morano

``Celibate Passions''

130

(5)

Kathleen Norris

``Three Pokes of a Thistle''

135

(4)

Naomi Shihab Nye

``When the Body &gins to Fall Apart on the Academic Stage''

139

(3)

Lucia Perillo

``Animal Allies''

142

(6)

Brenda Peterson

``Celebrating Creation''

148

(4)

Chet Raymo

``Cloud Crossing''

152

(6)

Scott Russell Sanders

``Pliny and the Mountain Mouse''

158

(7)

Reg Saner

``My Father Always Said''

165

(8)

Mimi Schwartz

``The Masked Marvel's Last Toehold''

173

(4)

Richard Selzer

``I Stand Here Writing''

177

(8)

Nancy Sommers

``Chin Music''

185

(10)

Michael Steinberg

``At the Buffalo Bill Museum, June 1988''

195

(14)

Jane Tompkins

``Going to the Movies''

209

(3)

Susan Allen Toth

``Six Days''

212

(4)

Jesse Wegman

``The Friendship Tarot''

216

(7)

Nancy Willard

PART 2 Talking about Creative Nonfiction

223

(146)

``The Landscape of Creative Nonfiction''

225

(7)

Jocelyn Bartkevicius

``The Art of Memoir''

232

(4)

Mary Clearman Blew

``To Fashion a Text''

236

(10)

Annie Dillard

``On the Possibilities of the Essay: A Meditation''

246

(7)

Rebecca Blevins Faery

``Why I Chose the Creative Nonfiction Way of Life''

253

(6)

Lee Gutkind

``Memory and Imagination''

259

(10)

Patricia Hampl

``The Whole Truth''

269

(8)

Peter M. Ives

``Courting the Approval of the Dead''

277

(14)

Tracy Kidder

``Everything But the Truth?''

291

(3)

Fern Kupfer

``What We Didn't Know We Knew''

294

(7)

Sydney Lea

``What Happened to the Personal Essay?''

301

(8)

Phillip Lopate

``Toward a Definition of Creative Nonfiction''

309

(7)

Bret Lott

``The Other Creative Writing''

316

(5)

Michael Pearson

``Beyond Linearity: Writing the Segmented Essay''

321

(8)

Robert L. Root, Jr.

``The Singular First Person''

329

(9)

Scott Russell Sanders

``Memoir? Fiction? Where's the Line?''

338

(6)

Mimi Schwartz

``The Exact Location of the Soul''

344

(5)

Richard Selzer

``Me and My Shadow''

349

(15)

Jane Tompkins

``Experimental Critical Writing''

364

(5)

Marianna Torgovnick

PART 3 Composing Creative Nonfiction

369

(62)

``Warping Time with Montaigne''

373

(6)

Emily Chase

``Notes from a Journey Toward 'Warping Time'''

379

(8)

Emily Chase

``That Shining Place: Crete, 1966''

387

(10)

Simone Poirier-Bures

``Afterword: Writing 'The Greece Piece'''

397

(6)

Simone Poirier-Bures

``Teacher Training''

403

(6)

Mary Elizabeth Pope

``Composing 'Teacher Training'''

409

(8)

Mary Elizabeth Pope

``Zion''

417

(8)

Maureen Stanton

``On Writing 'Zion'''

425

(6)

Maureen Stanton

Alternative Contents: Approaches to Writing and Discussing Creative Nonfiction

431

(4)

Credits

435

(4)

Index

439

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