The New Kings of Non-Fiction by Ira Glass - Reviews, Discussion, Bookclubs, Lists

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5		29%
4		49%
3		18%
2		2%
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10/10/07

Ellen added it (review of isbn 1594482675)

bookshelves: want-to-read

I once followed Ira Glass into a Starbucks and let me tell you, he talks like his radio voice all the time. Swoon.

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01/28/08

Alicia rated it:

Read in February, 2008

A collection of essays hand selected by Ira Glass. Anyone who knows me wishes I would just shut up about Ira Glass already.

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Not surprisingly, this collection of non-fiction essays is amazing. In the introduction, Ira Glass explains his selection process in putting the collection together. It's basically all about journalists who don't shy away from putting themselves in the story. Ira says "I don't see anything wrong with a piece of reporting turning into a fable....more A collection of essays hand selected by Ira Glass. Anyone who knows me wishes I would just shut up about Ira Glass already.

----

Not surprisingly, this collection of non-fiction essays is amazing. In the introduction, Ira Glass explains his selection process in putting the collection together. It's basically all about journalists who don't shy away from putting themselves in the story. Ira says "I don't see anything wrong with a piece of reporting turning into a fable. In fact, when I'm researching a story and the real-life situation starts to turn into allegory...I feel incredibly lucky..." I would guess this method explains how so many This American Life stories, though about one person's narrow experience, actually speak to broad, universal themes. Anyway, I feel like I learned so much from these stories! They've provided me with a wealth of information with which I'm better able to annoy my friends and family. And, of course, my spouse.

My four favorites:

- David Foster Wallace's story about right-wing talk radio (and a particular host on KFI, an obnoxious LA station that boasts more "stimulating" talk radio). Of course, it's easy to hate this entire genre of radio, but (as Ira points out), DFW writes with some empathy toward the host guy, and that actually allows him to get away with saying unflattering things about him.

- In the story "Tales of the Tyrant," the author tackles the topic of what Saddam Hussein was really like. There aren't really any surprises, but I realized I'd always regarded him as a two-dimensional character. Wait, I take that back about the surprises. I was surprised to learn that Saddam Hussein commissioned a special volume of the Koran written in his own blood. It took three years for him to provide sufficient blood to the team of calligraphers who produced it. Also, I was surprised by the description of Saddam's son Uday's wardrobe.

- "Losing the War" is a story about WWII. It's really well done. And it provides knowledge.

- In the story "Power Steer," the author assesses the modern American beef industry by purchasing a calf (No. 534) and tracing its life from its birth through to its death 14 months later. If loving animals isn't enough to make you want to never eat beef again, this should do it: After explaining the variety of problems caused by making cows eat corn (instead of grass, the diet they're evolutionarily designed to eat), the author highlights another problem: "...you can go father still, and follow the fertilizer needed to grow that corn all the way to the oil fields of the Persian Gulf. No. 534 started life as part of a food chain that derived all its energy from the sun; now that corn constitutes such an important link in his food chain, he is the product of an industrial system powered by fossil fuel. (And, in turn, defended by the military--another uncounted cost of 'cheap' food.) I asked David Pimentel, a Cornell ecologist who specializes in agriculture and energy, if it might be possible to calculate precisely how much oil it will take to grow my steer to slaughter weight. Assuming No. 534 continues to eat 24 pounds of corn a day and reaches a weight of 1,250 pounds, he will have consumed in his lifetime roughly 284 gallons of oil. We have succeeded in industrializing the beef calf, transforming what was once a solar-powered ruminant into the very last thing we need: another fossil-fuel machine." Or that should at least make you want to eat only grass-fed beef, which is, according to the author, a viable option.

Now if only Ira would come to my apartment, sift through the mountains of neglected New Yorkers, Harpers, Believers, and whatever else (maybe there are some Us Weeklys), and select another collection of stories for me, I'd be set. One might encourage me to hide the Us Weeklys before he got here, but I would not. I believe he would understand.

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07/10/08

Joshua Weichhand rated it:

(review of isbn 1594482675)

I suppose its fair to say that Ira Glass is kind of my hero. Not necessarily because he's brought down empires with pacifism or because he lobbied auto manufacturers for seat belts, but because he really inspires me to read and write. This entire collection is something he had sitting in a pile on his desk, saved for an appropriate time as he considered them to be great works of nonfiction. I want to be like that, finding something brilliant and xeroxing it and stapling it together with other...more

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07/02/08

Andrea rated it:

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Read in July, 2008

I would actually like to give it a 3.5 but rounded up for Ira Glass.

Most of the stories are great, uncovering inconsistent laws related to day trading by a high schooler, an ordinary socialite in extraordinary circles, and a great artist who fell through the large cracks of the establishment of art appreciators. I loved reading about how Monica Lewinsky had to be ushered out of a trendy bar when Chelsea Clinton showed up with her boyfriend, and how Dan Savage fairly successfully i...more

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05/13/08

Isaac rated it:

(review of isbn 1594482675)

Read in May, 2008

recommends it for: folks interested in the world around them

The worst thing that can be said about this collection is that a few of the pieces in it are merely good. Some of the articles - even those written years or decades ago - are downright revelatory. I guarantee that at least one of these stories will alter your ideas about the way the world is organized; for me, it was Malcolm Gladwell's and Lawrence Weschler's pieces about how the social universe is really put together, and Lee Sandlin's absolutely essential piece about the true characte...more

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01/01/08

David rated it:

(review of isbn 1594482675)

bookshelves: anthologies-and-collections, read-in-2007

Read in January, 2008

It's deja lu all over again.

This is not the superb collection I would expect from Ira Glass. In fact, it's an odd collection all round - the puzzling question is why it exists at all.

Don't get me wrong. The quality of most of the contributions to this anthology is very high. But most of the pieces are not new. Glass describes his selection criterion: "most of the stories in this book come from a stack of favorite writing that I've kept behind my desk for years"...more It's deja lu all over again.

This is not the superb collection I would expect from Ira Glass. In fact, it's an odd collection all round - the puzzling question is why it exists at all.

Don't get me wrong. The quality of most of the contributions to this anthology is very high. But most of the pieces are not new. Glass describes his selection criterion: "most of the stories in this book come from a stack of favorite writing that I've kept behind my desk for years". What does this yield?

Michael Lewis on Jonathan Lebed (the 15-year old who was sued for white-collar crime by the SEC).
Malcolm Gladwell: Six Degrees of Lois Weisberg.
Chuck Klosterman interviewing Val Kilmer.
David Foster Wallace on right-wing talk radio.
Michael Pollan on buying a cow.
Susan Orlean: The American Man, Age Ten.
James McManus on playing in the World Series of Poker.
Mark Bowden on Saddam Hussein.

and stories by Jack Hitt, Dan Savage, Lawrence Weschler, Lee Sandler and Bill Buford.

The problem is that most of the pieces in the book have appeared in print before, not once, but twice. For instance, Gladwell's piece - which is indeed a delight to read - first appeared in The New Yorker, then again in his book "The Tipping Point". Similarly, the pieces by Orlean and Weschler first appeared in The New Yorker and were subsequently republished in books by their authors. David Foster Wallace's story was first published in The Atlantic, and subsequently appeared again in the collection "Consider the Lobster". Pollan's work first appeared in The New York Times, and then again in his book "The Omnivore's Dilemma". And so on. I haven't checked, but given the general proliferation of anthologies these days (each year there are the 'best essays', 'best business writing', 'best nonrequired reading', 'best science and nature writing', and The new Yorker has taken to publishing its own anthologies as well), it wouldn't surprise me if some of these pieces have been further anthologized.

Thus, operationally, Ira's selection criterion seems to amount to choosing pieces that have been published at least twice before. Which makes one wonder why Glass felt the need to pull this book together - was he stuck for funds?

my favorite pieces: the article on Jonathan Lebed, Gladwell's piece, and Klosterman's interview of Val Kilmer. At the other end of the spectrum, the article about poker was a tedious, self-indulgent bore and Foster Wallace's abuse of footnotes is unusually rampant. Finally, and this says more about me than about the quality of the essays, but I couldn't manage to make myself finish Lee Sandlin's article about World War II, nor could I bring myself to care about Bill Buford's exploits with British soccer hooligans.

Don't buy this book. If you must read it, check your local library. (less)

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10/22/07

neeraja rated it:

(review of isbn 1594482675)

bookshelves: non-fiction

Read in November, 2007

Starts off with wonderful pieces, then trails off to the end. While all of the pieces were insightful in their own ways (though I still think the one about poker was a boring waste of space), my favorites were:

- Host, David Foster Wallace's fantastic, hilarious look at conservative talk radio

- Among the Thugs, Bill Buford's disturbing, drunken, participatory account of British soccor hooligans

- Six Degrees of Lois Weisberg, Malcolm Gladwell's take on how we k...more

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11/30/07

JJ rated it:

(review of isbn 1594482675)

first of all, ira glass picked these all out so i am inclined to decide to like them whether i actually do or not. but the fact is that these are awesome nonfiction writers. so far they have delivered what mr. glass promises: journalism with a personality. these are highly skilled writers stating facts while managing to entertain wildly. my favorite so far is an extensive analysis of saddam hussein, based on impressions by his (previously) close advisors, friends, victims, and everyone in betwee...more

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02/18/09

Flissy rated it:

(review of isbn 1594482675)

bookshelves: 2008

Read in March, 2008

It took me a little while to get through The New Kings of Non-Fiction. Although the pieces are for the most part fairly short, some of them are also quite dense and I had to carve out time to actually concentrate!

My favorites were the portraits- An amusing one of Val Kilmer by Chuck Klosterman, an endearing one of "The American Man, Age Ten" by Susan Orlean, and a positively chilling on Sadam Hussein by Mark Bowden. Of course, I loved Malcom Gladwell's piece (an excerpt fro...more It took me a little while to get through The New Kings of Non-Fiction. Although the pieces are for the most part fairly short, some of them are also quite dense and I had to carve out time to actually concentrate!

My favorites were the portraits- An amusing one of Val Kilmer by Chuck Klosterman, an endearing one of "The American Man, Age Ten" by Susan Orlean, and a positively chilling on Sadam Hussein by Mark Bowden. Of course, I loved Malcom Gladwell's piece (an excerpt from The Tipping Point - a must-read!)

The only one I really had to slog through was "The Host" by David Foster Wallace. I have read a few things by him and I'm not a fan. I do not find his excessive use of footnotes and other gimmicks clever or avante garde. Rather, they highlight his obvious inability to make a point in any sort of coherent fashion.

Also, I must admit that I didn't read Michael Pollan's "Power Steer." I know he is well respected for Omnivore's Dilemma. Still, as soon as I realized that his article was about what happens when a cow goes to be slaughtered for meat, I skipped over it. I'm sure it is eye-opening and all that jazz, but I am already a soft-hearted vegetarian and I know it would have disturbed me and I didn't need to read it.

It seems there are some critics take issue with the fact that while this book is titled The NEW Kings..., all the pieces have been previously published at least once before, and some of the works, like "Shapinksi's Karma", for example, are as much as twenty years old. However, Ira Glass makes it clear in his introduction that it is the voice in each of the pieces that he is drawn to. All the pieces originate from a reporter's point of view, but each story is as much about the transformation that happens for the reporter as it is about the topic he/she is exposing. All in all, it is an enjoyable collection, and fans of This American Life will appreciate that the collection does not stray far from what Ira Glas is already doing in the radio program.(less)

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11/29/08

Melody rated it:

(review of isbn 1594482675)

bookshelves: creative-nonficton-memoir

To all of my friends who, in the course of busy, business-y lives, have forgotten how to read novels: If you want to remember the joy of story, start here. Go get this book and read it. NOW.

I widely broadcast my love of Ira Glass and go so far as to assign TAL in class; I love it that much. I always enjoy Ira's creative editorial prowess, and this collection does not disappoint. Every story has its narrative joy: gorgeous, poetic writing; clever character development; suspense; c...more

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07/02/09

Shelah rated it:

(review of isbn 1594482675)

I have a crush on Ira Glass. For years, it was small crush, a radio crush. I just really liked listening to the This American Life podcasts each week and decided Ira was cool. Then Eddie bought me both the This American Life DVDs and New Kings of Nonfiction (which I'd tried unsuccessfully to reserve at the library in Texas) for Mother's Day (because there's nothing better than a husband who appreciates and even encourages his wife's harmless crushes). I watched the DVDs first and they are AMAZIN...more I have a crush on Ira Glass. For years, it was small crush, a radio crush. I just really liked listening to the This American Life podcasts each week and decided Ira was cool. Then Eddie bought me both the This American Life DVDs and New Kings of Nonfiction (which I'd tried unsuccessfully to reserve at the library in Texas) for Mother's Day (because there's nothing better than a husband who appreciates and even encourages his wife's harmless crushes). I watched the DVDs first and they are AMAZING! If you haven't seen them, they are worth a Showtime subscription. Barring that, they're definitely worth the $27 you'd pay for them at amazon (which is just enough to get free shipping! score!). Glass comes across as slightly nerdier than I'd pictured him from his radio voice, but after ten hours of watching him, my crush was reaching dangerous proportions. I was even considering email love notes to Chicago Public Radio (ok, not really, but I was still swooning).

Then I read The New Kings of Nonfiction. You see, for the last year I've been writing and editing for Segullah, so nonfiction is right up my alley. I was looking forward to some new and groundbreaking nonfiction. I'd already read a few of the essays. And the other essays were just so, well, male. I guess it's no coincidence that the book is called The New KINGS of Nonfiction, because 12 of the 14 essays were written by men. And they were about very male topics: poker, trading stocks, being a lunatic soccer fan, bulls, wars, etc... Even the articles written by women were about things guys would like: one was about what an American ten-year-old male looks like and the other was about working as a hostess at an ultracool NYC bar. So I'd built up in my mind over the last few years this image of Glass as a sensitive metrosexual kind of guy, and the macho themes of the book totally blew that image out of the water. And now I'm not sure what I think about him.

I'll say this though, Malcolm Gladwell's essay "Six Degrees of Lois Weisberg" is golden. The book is worth picking up even if you only read that. (less)

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05/04/09

Joel rated it:

(review of isbn 1594482675)

Has a copy to sell/swap — Read in May, 2009

recommended to Joel by: Boing Boing
recommends it for: Fans of This American Life

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

In general, a great collection of articles, stories, and profiles from a wide range of sources and covering an even wider range of topics. There are several excellent pieces in here and if Ira Glass puts together another collection, I'll want to read it.

Jonathan Lebed's Extracurricular Activities - About a kid who was found guilty of securities and trading fraud; good 3/5.

Toxic Dreams - About a small town's fight against an environmental mess that turns out to not be ver...more

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02/03/09

Lauren rated it:

(review of isbn 1594482675)

Read in February, 2009

Go ahead and try to read Ira Glass' intro and not become instantly entranced and intrigued in the essays that are to follow -- you won't be able to. If you like Ira Glass, you will want to know what kind of writing it takes for him to keep your piece in his desk for years, which is what he did to compile these stories. I really liked the intro because it made me want to become a better reader, a better writer, and it made me really relieved that I backed out of journalism school at the last minu...more

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12/03/08

Joseph rated it:

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Has a copy to sell/swap — Read in December, 2008

I'm about halfway through, but what seems to have gone unmentioned by Mr. Glass in his introduction is that all of these essays are connected by a central theme: the idea that the status quo, the rules that make the world work, the day-to-day way the world works, is all bullshit. Every one of these essays are about someone who has managed to work that out and take advantage of it in some way, by realizing that our everyday assumptions are valueless, existing only because we assume that they do ...more

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03/06/09

Stephanie rated it:

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Read in January, 2008

This is a fantastic collection of nonfiction stories with studies by Malcolm Gladwell, Jack Hitt, Dan Savage, David Foster Wallace, Susan Orlean and more. There are studies of the degrees of separation in one's relationships, the teenager who took on the stock market and gained, inside the crazy football supporter frenzy (European football, that is) and the drama surrounding a toxic waste dumping site, just to name a few topics. Being a nonfiction dabbler myself, I really enjoyed the different s...more

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04/20/08

Elizabeth rated it:

(review of isbn 1594482675)

Read in May, 2008

recommends it for: Megan

While there are shorts in this book that don't grab my interest the majority of them do. After reading through some other reviews of this book it seems that everyone likes different stories and in creating a compilation that has something for everyone Ira Glass has done well. You can't make all of the people happy all of the time. But Mr. Glass makes most of the people happy most of the time.

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01/21/09

Jesse rated it:

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bookshelves: sincecomingtojapan

Read in February, 2009

recommended to Jesse by: Stephanie B

since I've started finally listening to This Americna Life, I've fallen in love with nonfiction and Ira Glass. Or maybe just Ira Glass and the stories he and people he finds present. I really enjoyed this book, and almost all of the essays in it.

It may be called The New Kings of Nonfiction. However, I'm not entirely sure that is entirely accurate because some of these essays are atleast 15 years old or older, and thats from the time this book was published, not just when I read it...more

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12/04/08

Cassidy Cassidy rated it:

(review of isbn 1594482675)

Read in November, 2008

Skip Ira's intro and the one piece with wwwwaaaayyyy too many footnotes, and this diverse series of non-fiction pieces is a joy. I hate gambling -- relying on the (faulty) premise that math PhD's don't do it for a reason -- but I couldn't set the book down as I devoured the piece on the World Series of Poker.

The examination of the American male, age 10, is also a blast. The only female author in the collection (wtf?) succeeds at adapting her own style to the tone of her subject: ...more

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06/06/09

Elizabeth rated it:

(review of isbn 1594482675)

Read in July, 2009

This compilation was fun, and aptly introduced by Ira Glass (I'm not sure he could really do anything badly) as an anthology of the writing he keeps returning to, referring to, and recommending to friends. Though I'm rarely someone who gets caught up with such things, the lack of female contributions here was somewhat disquieting (especially considering the two the anthology did contain were some of my favorite pieces in the entire collection). It was also somewhat disappointing that Glass did n...more

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04/14/09

Melissa rated it:

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Read in April, 2009

recommends it for: fans of this american life

this is basically a book version of glass' radio show. all the articles selected for this book would have made for typical "this american life" episodes. most of the writers do an excellent job of taking a story on something mundane and potentially snooze-worthy, (an average 10 year old boy, a lawsuit again an acid pit, the history of ww1, or the beef industry for some examples) and making it fascinating. the only exception was the final story on the author's participation in a poke...more

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