Inspiring Nonfiction
By Kathleen Bolton | January 24, 2011 |
Though around these parts we talk a lot about the fiction that inspires us, I’d like to give a shoutout to the nonfiction books (non writerly craft books, that is) that have influenced my writing. I don’t often read nonfiction, to be honest. My TBR pile is groaning as it is. But three nonfiction books have been so inspiring they’ve made me study them as if I were deconstructing a great work of fiction to see how the heck they did it.
David Niven’s THE MOON’S A BALLOON.
I love gossip about old Hollywood (I like it about new Hollywood too, but shhhh, that’ll be our dirty secret). When I spied a tattered copy of David Niven’s THE MOON’S A BALLOON on the shelf in the library, I thumbed through it curiously because he’d been an actor in a few of my favorite pre-war movies, Wuthering Heights and Charge of the Light Brigade.
From page one I was rolling, fearful of my ribs. Niven somehow was able to translate his droll self-deprecating character onto the page. That crackling wit combined with juicy anecdotes of Hollywood’s elite kept me locked until I’d finished the last page. As many of us know, writing funny isn’t easy. So I studied how Niven would set up a joke, deftly draw out the anecdote without getting in its way until the punchline. It’s quite the art, one I haven’t mastered. Niven makes it look easy. I just adore this book.
Laura Hillenbrand’s SEABISCUIT.
“A Thoroughbred racehorse is one of God’s most impressive engines. His body is a paradox of mass and lightness, crafted to slip through the air with the ease of an arrow. His mind is impressed with a single command: run. He pursues speed with superlative courage, pushing beyond defeat, beyond exhaustion, sometimes beyond the structural limits of bone and sinew. In flight, he is nature’s ultimate wedding of form and purpose.”
Stunning writing, from the first page until the last. The way Hillenbrand put words together leaves me exhilarated. SEABISCUIT is not merely a story of a racehorse; Hillenbrand weaves Depression-era culture, unforgettable characters, the spirit of survival and how an improbable little racehorse became America’s first sports hero. I gulped this book down in a two-night marathon. Then I had to go back and read it again to savor Hillenbrand’s incredible prose, and pick it apart to figure out her unusual word combinations which were some of the most beautiful I’d ever read. When I get a break in my schedule, I’ve got her new book, UNBROKEN, at the top of my TBR list.
Barbara W. Tuchman’s THE GUNS OF AUGUST.
Keep your tissues handy before diving into this history of The Great War. A structural masterpiece, Tuchman focuses on the first month of WWI – August 1914 – and shows us how the war destroyed centuries of homage to monarchy and social hierarchy in literally hours, and how the modern era is born amidst blood and ruin. There are literally a hundred characters moving in and out of her narrative, but she makes sure the reader stays grounded. Not only is it historical research at its finest, Tuchman adroitly finds little moments during this march of insanity that will break your heart. If you can handle it, her companion history of the war, THE MARCH OF FOLLY, is also must read. Tuchman taught me that it’s the small moments among the big narrative that can wring the most emotion out of a reader.
Have you read any nonfiction books that have influenced your writing? What are they and why? And which do you recommend? I am always looking to build my reading lists.
Kathleen Bolton is co-founder of Writer Unboxed. She writes under a variety of pseudonyms, including Ani Bolton.
She has written two novels as Cassidy Calloway: Confessions of a First Daughter, and Secrets of a First Daughter–both books in a YA series about the misadventures of the U.S. President’s teen-aged daughter, published by HarperCollins, and Tamara Blake, for the novel Slumber.
If you liked the Guns of August I would recommend you get a hold of the movie Oh What A Lovely War, which also captures the folly of WW1 while presenting it in the form of a seaside carnival.
My most recent non-fiction reads are Salt: A World History, which describes the advance of civilization as a perpetual search for salt, and The Alchemy of Air, about the development of a method for fixing atmospheric nitrogen into a form usable for making fertilizer as well as explosives. I discovered this one while reading one of my fave SF novels, Lord Kalvan of Otherwhen, which got me wondering about the making of gunpowder, as it always does.
I thonk I’ve talked about all of these in blog posts at one time or another.
Marc Vun Kannon
https://authorguy.wordpress.com
Before I began writing again in earnest, I was one who read mostly non-fiction, with a focus on history. I credit Peter Heather’s works on the Goths, and in particular his reworking of Gibbons’ classic, Fall of the Roman Empire, as being among my biggest influences. I still relish my research as well as my fiction reading.
That my father was a former WWII soldier who never spoke of his experience has always been a heavy influence on my reading. Bradley’s Flags of our Fathers really broke me up. And I always loved Stephen Ambrose’s books, focused on the rank and file soldier, particularly Band of Brothers. I still believe his discrediting was wrongful, as he brought history to life in a way few others can.
Steven Pressfield, who actually writes historic fiction, does so with an uncommon acumen and acuracy that brings him to mind here. His novels set in ancient Greece taught me more than any text book ever did. He is another great inspiration to me.
I must check out Tuchman. And I’ve also heard great things about Salt, Marc.
Thanks for a thought provoking post, Kathleen.
The nonfiction that knocks me out has one thing in common: the authors don’t let their quest to convey the *facts* overcome their responsibility to also tell a good *story*. Despite the piles of books I read in grad school that would suggest the contrary, I submit that there’s no reason that nonfiction needs to be dry and boring. Here are three examples of what I mean:
The Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester
This is a fascinating and entertaining account of the massive effort that went into creating the Oxford English Dictionary. Along with a surprising and enlightening look at the logistics and mechanics of composing and editing this giant and authoritative book, Winchester takes us into the world of a pair of utterly memorable people who were instrumental in creating what has continued to be the classic reference on our language. In doing so, a book about words becomes a book about people – people who deeply love words. Brilliant!
The Soul of a New Machine by Tracy Kidder
This book knocked me out twice. It’s the story of a group of computer engineers tasked with creating a new minicomputer platform in the 1970s, and when I first read it, I was completely computer-illiterate. But Kidder made all the technology not just understandable, but interesting, in a book that has the urgency and tension of a great thriller. I read it again years later, now computer literate and starting to get “serious” about writing. By then, the technology Kidder describes was long since obsolete, but that still didn’t negate the power of his story. I think the drama of the tale Kidder tells could easily apply to any nascent technology, and if you swapped out the techie details with something more current, his book could easily be sold as a modern-day techno-thriller.
The John McPhee Reader by John McPhee
I picked this collection of his stories and excerpts, but really any McPhee is good McPhee, as far as I’m concerned. This guy can make ANYTHING interesting, from a study of Florida orange groves, to traveling with a quirky naturalist who literally eats roadkill (but only as long as it’s fresh). I don’t know how to describe what makes McPhee’s work so magical; all I can say is: read some. To me, McPhee sets the bar for nonfiction.
*covers eyes* Nooooo! I can’t add any more books to the mountain without causing an avalanche. Okay. I guess I can squeeze these in somewhere. I think I have to. :)
SEABISCUIT is one of my faves! I’ve heard good things about UNBROKEN, too, and plan to borrow it from my mom at some point.
More great nonfic:
BEREFT by Jane Berstein
NAME ALL THE ANIMALS by Allison Smith
Anything by Atul Gawande or Malcolm Gladwell
EAT PRAY LOVE by Elizabeth GIlbert
And I’m really, really not into most nonfic.
Oh, and LUCKY by Alice Sebold. REALLY hard read, emotionally, but very well written.
I’m a new reader, and so far am really enjoying the plethora of information and discussions on “Writer Unboxed,” but it’s having the affect of inundating me with new books that I now have to run out immediately to buy!
As far as great non-fiction books (of which I have not always been a huge fan, but am slowly appreciating as I read more of them), I was completely mesmerized by Jeanette Wall’s “Glass Castle.” It is a memoir of her childhood and her eccentric parents, and the storytelling is first-rate. I’m currently reading her “Half Broke Horses: A True Life Novel,” and am loving her voice in it as well.
I’m currently reading “Creative Writing: How to unlock your imagination…”. It’s very good with very little fluff.
A book I read recently ‘Think and Grow Rich’ inspired me to take action. It’s amazing what you can find online.
And I’d recommend buying an ebook reader to get through your mountain of books.
Great subject, Kathleen. I love non-fiction and read a lot of it. One of the most influential on my early career was another Tuchman, A Distant Mirror, which catapulted me into a major passion for the 14th century. I wrote very dark medieval romances which didn’t sell very well but gave me a LOT of pleasure (and these days I can issue them as ebooks for the smaller readership that will enjoy them).
I’m with Kirstan on both LUCKY and EAT PRAY LOVE, and O love Jeanette Walls, too. A Moveable Feast knocked me out and I still want to caress the cover every time I spy it on the shelf.
Most of the time, I have a non-fiction book progress. I’ve been making my way through The Art of Eating by MFK Fisher, which is heavenly, and I’m also reading My Dog Tulip, by JR Ackerly.
If you want some shorter bursts of inspiration, try Natalie Goldberg’s Writing Down the Bones. She has brief anecdotes followed by writing suggestions that work very well.
Mary Pipher’s Writing to Change the World is rich with ideas and commentary based on her experience and inspired by authors such as Barbara Tuchman and her book, A Distant Mirror.
On a snowy day like today, I turn to a gift volume of Robert Frost’s Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening. After reading it and looking at the amazing illustrations, I am totally refreshed!
Patricia
ANGELA’S ASHES
I also love Hemingway’s A MOVEABLE FEAST and Anne Rice’s CALLED OUT OF DARKNESS.
I absolutely loved Rich Cohen’s SWEET AND LOW. It’s the true story of his grandfather’s founding of Sweet and Low and the family drama that ensued from the money, etc. He also throws in the history of sugar and the history of the dieting market, but the family saga is riveting.
Personally, I hated Eat, Pray, Love, although I liked most of the other books that were mentioned.
I’d also suggest anything by David Halberstam or Michael Lewis.
I happen to be a nonfiction writer who’s read more fiction than nonfiction to date…
Anything by Mary Roach is fabulous, but in particular Stiff was a romp. Can you imagine a writer skilled enough to make death and decomposition fascinating and humorous? I’m reading Packing for Mars now . . .
I would also put in a plug for a classic–Shelby Foote’s Civil War volumes. They were my first experience with a history that I could read for ‘fun.’
And for any new or soon-to-be parents, Anne Lamott’s Operating Instructions is required therapy.
In Cold Blood, by Truman Capote.
Blackbird, by Jennifer Lauck
MY SEVERAL WORLDS by Pearl Buck, a memoir of her life through middle age. I wish they would make this book required reading for high schoolers. She is the most amazing observer, and the times during which she grew up and wrote her novels were already exceptionally charged. I go back to re-read MSW every few years.
Two favorites I recommend to anyone, because they’re in conversational tone and have practical application:
THE GIFT OF FEAR by Gavin de Becker. Covers some of the same ground as BLINK, in that much of what we know about other people is reason-derived but arrives so instantly it feels like intuition. (And is often discounted at our peril.)
Wansink’s MINDLESS EATING – research about food presentation, and how we can use it to healthful advantage.
Two biographies I love were both by Nancy Mitford. The Sun King about Louis XIV and also Madame de Pompadour. She has a wry style I love.
A recent book I liked very much was Wedlock: How Georgian Britain’s Worst Husband Met His Match by Wendy Moore. Very engrossing.