The Bookworm: In Fact: The Best of Creative Nonfiction

It can be tempting to forget that an essay or creative nonfiction piece must have shape and density, must be well written rather than spewed, and must lead somewhere other than the mirror.

Each author appearing in In Fact: The Best of Creative Nonfiction, edited by Lee Gutkind, was given an opportunity to write a little about their essays and thoughts on writing. Floyd Skloot wrote the above quote about his, “Gray Area: Thinking with a Damaged Brain.” I think it’s a damn good line, and I’m using it in my grad school application’s statement of purpose. Why? To emphasize what I have yet to learn.

In Fact is, in fact, the best collection of essays I have ever read. Each was well wrought and masterfully crafted. It was humbling as hell for me to read; my current skills and writing are no match for the prose of Sherry Simpson, Terry Tempest Williams, or Gerald N. Callahan. (Never heard of them? That’s cool; neither had I. Unless you search you probably won’t find their work, as is the case with most great writers nowadays. I believe the era of literary giants like Hemingway, Steinbeck, and Faulkner are over because there are so many good writers out there. The fierce competition for page space is unforgiving — as it always has been — and there is a constant rotation of new names and style. Also, the publishing industry is very different than it was even a decade ago.)

I bought In Fact at Prairie Lights when I was back in Iowa City. Despite being a quality bookstore — if I had the chance to go on a $1,000 shopping spree I would do it at Prairie Lights — PL has a pitifully small selection of nonfiction and personal essays. It’s just a single shelf on the first floor. However, to PL’s credit, at least they have a nonfiction/essay section, and the choices are top notch. I have never gone wrong with personal essays from PL, and this was definitely no exception.

The essays in In Fact are bookended by the statements at the end and short author bios at the beginning. (Technically, they’re not bookended because the bios are on the bottom of the first page, below the beginning, not above at the top.) At first I thought it would be an annoyance to read both, but it turned out to be one of the things I cherished most about In Fact. Anyone can be a writer, especially of nonfiction, and it was interesting to read of the different occupations and backgrounds of each author. Of course, some of them are now academics, teaching at creative writing programs across the country, but each had other careers, other writing passions, before falling in love with nonfiction. Some are mainly poets while others have published numerous novels. A few are journalists. Ruthann Robson is a law professor and former attorney, and Lauren Slater is a psychologist. Their advice to young writers was equally interesting, especially since “keep your day job” appeared more than once. Brian Doyle’s advice was:

1. learn to type sixty words a minute or better
2. write something every day: letter, rant, journal, poem, prayer, whatever
3. learn to listen
4. get a job to pay the bills.

I think I’m following those guidelines very well.