A Sourcebook of American Literary Journalism: Representative Writers in an Emerging Genre

(Hardback)

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A wide range of writers are brought together in this discussion of literary journalism of the 19th and 20th centuries. Such writing was not "new" journalism, therefore simply a type of realistic fiction. Rather, it can be examined as a distinct literary form, a type of cultural expression that can be defined and characterized. 35 essays by contributing scholars analyze major writers of this literary genre or writers known for a major work in the genre, and there are short pieces for nineteen additional figures. The volume introduction discusses definitions and characteristics of literary journalism, with reference to the patterns of reality depicted, and identifies two main types: those works characterized by "immersion" and shorter, more impressionistic pieces. The roots of this "new journalism" are traced, and ideas of the theorists of this genre are explicated. Conville also provides the results of his research - uncovering primary sources of literary journalism.

Reviews

"Literary journalism" has been widely recognized as a genre since Tom Wolfe's description of the "new journalism" in 1973, although journalism using techniques of fiction has existed for far longer. In this critical work on American literary journalism, a brief introductory essay defines literary journalism and discusses both its history and prominent works of criticism. The remainder of the work is devoted to critical essays on individual American literary journalists, beginning in the late 19th century with Mark Twain and concluding with the present day. Essays on 34 authors were written by 32 contributors and average about 10 pages in length, concentrating primarily on each author's works of literary journalism, with very few references to biographical information. For major authors, including Mark Twain, Stephen Crane, and Norman Mailer, assessments of their contributions are limited to works only in this genre; thus the discussions are quite narrow in scope. More useful are essays that cover lesser known or contemporary figures about whom relatively little criticism is available, including such writers as Jacob A. Riis, Dorothy Day, George Ade, Bob Greene, Joe McGinniss, and Tracy Kidder. Accessible to undergraduates, lower-division and up.-Choice
Connery presents short biographical sketches of the hundreds of men and women who have shaped the news world in America from the late seventeenth century to the present.' The alphabetically arranged narrative entries, averaging from one to eight paragraphs in length, give dates for each journalist, places he or she lived and worked, and information about personality, special interests and career development. . . . An interesting introduction gives an overview of such aspects of the field as censorship, muckraking, women journalists, war correspondents, and the electronic age. A bibliography and a reliable index complete the book. The authors are noted librarians; the late Robert B. Downs was a former president of ALA. This book promises to be a useful reference source and would be a welcome addition to public and high school libraries. . . . While all these writers are treated in one of Gale's literary criticism series, this book's focus makes it unique. It belongs in academic libraries serving schools of journalism and studies in American literature, though it might be more usefully placed in the circulating collection.-Booklist
Literary criticism occupies a precarious position in reference collections. When emulsified with biography, as in Gale's Dictionary of Literary Biography (Detroit: Gale 1978--), it is welcome; when it stands alone, it is usually banished to the stacks. This latter fate, therefore, awaits the thirty-five insightful critical essays that analyze the work of literary journalists from Mark Twain through Tracy Kidder. "Literary Journalism" departs from textbook journalism by incorporating the narrative techniques of realistic fiction. The thirty-five subjects, among them Lincoln Steffens, Dorothy Day, John Hersey, Truman Capote, and Bob Greene, stand as exemplars of the art of literary journalism during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries in the U.S. The lengthy signed essays by academics include biographical information incidentally rather than by formula or design; their purpose, achieved throughout, is to explain how each writer has amplified literary journalism. Primary and secondary bibliographies enrich each essay. Half of the writers are covered in the Dictionary of Literary Biography, but not always with the same attention to their journalistic endeavors--reason enough to place this in academic reference collections rather than the stacks.-Wilson Library Bulletin
This excellent compilation is particularly appropriate for academic libraries that support communication, journalism, mass media, or writing programs. All articles are incisive, highly informative, and conclude with a listing of primary and secondary sources. General index. Highly recommended.-ARBA Reference Book Review
This useful guide provides the most comprehensive coverage to date of this particular literary realm. . . . This excellent compilation is particularly appropriate for academic libraries that support communication, journalism, mass media, or writing programs.-ARBA 93
""Literary journalism" has been widely recognized as a genre since Tom Wolfe's description of the "new journalism" in 1973, although journalism using techniques of fiction has existed for far longer. In this critical work on American literary journalism, a brief introductory essay defines literary journalism and discusses both its history and prominent works of criticism. The remainder of the work is devoted to critical essays on individual American literary journalists, beginning in the late 19th century with Mark Twain and concluding with the present day. Essays on 34 authors were written by 32 contributors and average about 10 pages in length, concentrating primarily on each author's works of literary journalism, with very few references to biographical information. For major authors, including Mark Twain, Stephen Crane, and Norman Mailer, assessments of their contributions are limited to works only in this genre; thus the discussions are quite narrow in scope. More useful are essays that cover lesser known or contemporary figures about whom relatively little criticism is available, including such writers as Jacob A. Riis, Dorothy Day, George Ade, Bob Greene, Joe McGinniss, and Tracy Kidder. Accessible to undergraduates, lower-division and up."-Choice
"Connery presents short biographical sketches of the hundreds of men and women who have shaped the news world in America from the late seventeenth century to the present.' The alphabetically arranged narrative entries, averaging from one to eight paragraphs in length, give dates for each journalist, places he or she lived and worked, and information about personality, special interests and career development. . . . An interesting introduction gives an overview of such aspects of the field as censorship, muckraking, women journalists, war correspondents, and the electronic age. A bibliography and a reliable index complete the book. The authors are noted librarians; the late Robert B. Downs was a former president of ALA. This book promises to be a useful reference source and would be a welcome addition to public and high school libraries. . . . While all these writers are treated in one of Gale's literary criticism series, this book's focus makes it unique. It belongs in academic libraries serving schools of journalism and studies in American literature, though it might be more usefully placed in the circulating collection."-Booklist
"This excellent compilation is particularly appropriate for academic libraries that support communication, journalism, mass media, or writing programs. All articles are incisive, highly informative, and conclude with a listing of primary and secondary sources. General index. Highly recommended."-ARBA Reference Book Review
"This useful guide provides the most comprehensive coverage to date of this particular literary realm. . . . This excellent compilation is particularly appropriate for academic libraries that support communication, journalism, mass media, or writing programs."-ARBA 93
"Literary criticism occupies a precarious position in reference collections. When emulsified with biography, as in Gale's Dictionary of Literary Biography (Detroit: Gale 1978--), it is welcome; when it stands alone, it is usually banished to the stacks. This latter fate, therefore, awaits the thirty-five insightful critical essays that analyze the work of literary journalists from Mark Twain through Tracy Kidder. "Literary Journalism" departs from textbook journalism by incorporating the narrative techniques of realistic fiction. The thirty-five subjects, among them Lincoln Steffens, Dorothy Day, John Hersey, Truman Capote, and Bob Greene, stand as exemplars of the art of literary journalism during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries in the U.S. The lengthy signed essays by academics include biographical information incidentally rather than by formula or design; their purpose, achieved throughout, is to explain how each writer has amplified literary journalism. Primary and secondary bibliographies enrich each essay. Half of the writers are covered in the Dictionary of Literary Biography, but not always with the same attention to their journalistic endeavors--reason enough to place this in academic reference collections rather than the stacks."-Wilson Library Bulletin

Author Bio

THOMAS B. CONNERY is Associate Professor of Journalism at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota, where he teaches a course in Literary Journalism.