The Best Creative Nonfiction, Vol. 3

The Best Creative Nonfiction #3

by Lee Gutkind (Editor)

“Intelligent but accessible, and often poignant . . . [by] the biggest talents on the essay and blog beat.” ― Publishers Weekly (on Vol. 2) Anyone still asking, “What is creative nonfiction?” will find the answer in this collection of artfully crafted, true stories. Selected by Lee Gutkind, the “godfather behind creative nonfiction,” and the staff of Creative Nonfiction , these stories―ranging from immersion journalism to intensely personal essays―illustrate the genre’s power and potential. Edwidge Danticat recalls her Uncle Moise’s love of a certain four-letter word and finds in his abandonment of the word near the end of his life the true meaning of exile. In “Literary Murder,” Julianna Baggott traces her roots as a novelist to her family’s “strange, desperate (sometimes conniving and glorious) past” and writes about her decision, in The Madam , to kill off a character based on her grandfather. And Sean Rowe explains why, if you must get arrested, Selma, Alabama, is the place to do it. This exciting and expansive array of works and voices is sure to impress and delight.

Genres: Essays, Nonfiction, Short Stories, Anthologies

272 pages, Paperback

First published August 3, 2009

About the author

Lee Gutkind has been recognized by Vanity Fair as “the godfather behind creative nonfiction.” A prolific writer, he has authored and edited over twenty-five books, and is the founder and editor of Creative Nonfiction, the first and largest literary magazine to publish only narrative nonfiction. Gutkind has received grants, honors, and awards from numerous organizations including the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Science Foundation. A man of many talents, Gutkind has been a motorcyclist, medical insider, sports expert, sailor, and college professor. He is currently distinguished writer in residence in the Consortium for Science, Policy, and Outcomes at Arizona State University and a professor in the Hugh Downs School of Human Communication.

Reviews

[Intplibrarian]

Some of the entries made me want to write an essay in response. Some made me want to smack the author upside the head. Some made me want to hug the author. Or any combination thereof. A few others were too boring to finish, even if they were only a few pages long.[return][return]I'd be surprised if there was anyone who couldn't find *anything* interesting and worthwhile in this collection. I'd be even more surprised if there was anyone who didn't abhor or, at least, find coma-inducing, in the collection.[return][return]Take that as you will.

[Oriana · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have ten books sitting here on my desk waiting to be reviewed. I think I'm just picking ones that are too short or too quick, so maybe this here'll slow me down a little? I got this at a stoop sale, or maybe just on a stoop, but anyway it was either cheap or free and I don't know anything about it, but the first essay was about prison cuisine and the second is about a woman whose great-grandmother was a madam in the twenties. So yup, it's already pretty great.

***

This probably would have slowed me down too, if we hadn't spent six hours at the emergency vet clinic on Saturday. Sigh. (The dog is fine, the doctors are idiots, I am now even further in debt, and that's the end of that.)

Anyways, I really really enjoyed this book. Creative nonfiction! Who knew? Essays and memoir bits and just calmly talking about real life... It's great. Wide variety of topics, too, from the inane (a trip to a creek with some friends) to the meditative (why am I forty-five and still single?) to the literary (the above-mentioned writing about writing a book about grandma the madam) to the harrowing (a detailed account of working in an abortion clinic) to the devastating (a letter of apology to a dead husband) to the culturally historic (a man going back to the place where he was kidnapped by vigilantes). Those were mainly the good ones; there was of course a lot of filler, especially a smattering of very short pieces from blogs, which were nearly all weak. But on the whole a really solid, interesting collection.

[Pearse Anderson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am straight-up halfway through this and just not enjoying it. Really expected better, so I'm putting it aside and picking up an all-nonfic mag, maybe that'll be better. I know other people agree with me, I just wished it wasn't this way, because I don't get enough creative nonfic in my life right now.

[Michelle M Victora · Rating 4 out of 5]

As with all short story collections, there are some hits and some misses. I like the stories that are actually written by a minority author about their minority experience. I do not like the stories written by white women who study other minorities and write about their experiences of a minority's experience. I never like anything I read or watch that come across as defending incels.

Some of the stories did make me introspect a bit. Particularly on how I view my value as a woman in the world and how it's tied or not tied to sexuality. So I definitely engaged with the book even if I didn't like all the stories. Probably a good book club book, it's thought-provoking enough.

[Candice Grizer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some of these were really good.... some were excellent! This book found me at random and I am happy it did!

[Heather · Rating 2 out of 5]

The first Creative Nonfiction compilation was riveting, a collection of honest, well-written personal essays. But this latest installment is basically just funny stories found on blogs. And they're not particularly that well-written, either. It seems more self-indulgent, more frivolous. Whereas the series started out seeking writers who could make important issues personal and relevant, now it's just a collection of people who can string together sentences in a coherent fashion.

A let down, in my opinion.

[Kara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Here's the thing with creative nonfiction. Sometimes I love it, and sometimes I hate it. Some authors have a way of manipulating words and structure in such a way that I find new meaning in an old idea. Others seem like they're just trying too hard and I end up getting annoyed. So, I didn't expect to love every single piece in this book. And I was right. But on the balance, I liked more pieces than I didn't. In fact there were very few that I just couldn't get through. Well worth reading and I eagerly look forward to reading other volumes in the series.

[Nichole · Rating 4 out of 5]

While some of the selections struck me as curious for their "non-storyness", this third volume of The Best Creative Nonfiction far surpasses its counterpart in the Best American series. All nonfiction writers should read this, as they'll surely find new voices to follow, a diverse lot of interesting topics, and several literary techniques to fuel their passion for writing.
For readers, as is likely editor Lee Gutkind's wont, this book serves as a more than decent response to that mind-numbing question, "What's nonfiction?"

[Arja Salafranca · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not the best volume in the series. Not much is memorable or particularly stand-outish. I did enjoy ‘letters from a Japanese crematorium’ by Marie Mutsuki Mockett, about the rites ivolved in the death of the writer’s Japanese grandmother, ‘Uncle Moïse’ by Edwidge Danticatt, about her uncle, ‘First Year’ by Laura Bramon Good, charting events in the first year of a marriage, and the beautiful ‘An Open Letter’ by Kathy Rhodes – a moving letter written to her recently deceased husband.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a decent collection of non-fiction short stories. My enjoyment of it was hampered by the fact that I don't really care for short stories because they stop just as you are getting into them. The main reason I read this was to look for new authors that I might enjoy and I did end up adding a few books to my "to read" list from this, so in that sense it was a success for me.

[عائشة توفيق · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was browsing through the bookstore without any intention to buy. This book grabbed me by the heart. It draws on a broad range of true (nonfiction) stories, allowing us to meet with the authors on the story behind their story. This book is about fiction meeting nonfiction, the backstage of an author's life where the most private and apalling facts put on some clothes before meeting the public.

[Mary Mackie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was very impressed with the wide range of topics the essays in this book covered. It's an entirely different world, moving away from fiction and poetry and exploring "creative nonfiction". I'm glad I chose this particular book for my Creative Nonfiction course next semester. There's a lot to learn from these particular essays

[Deb (Readerbuzz) Nance · Rating 4 out of 5]

The key word is “creative” here. I’d love to pass on a few of these pieces to those who find nonfiction to be boring. No boring here. The styles are all over the place, from authors who appear to sit down quietly at their desks to those authors who seem to be scribbling on bathroom walls.

[Gigi · Rating 3 out of 5]

The pieces collected here are of varying lengths and come from many different journals and even blogs. I found some of them very powerful, especially Wesley Yang's "The Face of Seung-Hui Cho" (the Virginia Tech shooter). Others not so much.

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

Accessible, human and diversely interesting. The selections vary in greatness, but Gutkind has chosen from such variety of genres within "Creative Nonfiction," there really is [cliche alert!!!!:] something for everyone.

[Karen King · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've never been in to non-fiction, but I got this as a gift and it was a good entry into a new genre. In particular, the second to last story was incredible and heartbreaking. I couldn't read another thing for a week after reading it cause nothing could follow it up.

[Ashley · Rating 3 out of 5]

My favorite story was "Community College" by Tim Bascom

[Lara · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is such an excellent collection, totally recommend!

[Rob · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent short collection of non-fiction essays.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this collection of essays, especially the ones by Scott Black, Wesley Yang, and Sean Rowe.

[April · Rating 3 out of 5]

some of these are bland. i have read one really really intriguing story from the collection - that's about it though

[Camille · Rating 5 out of 5]

I might be a little biased with my review (hah) but this really is a great collection.

[Lavande · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sometimes beautiful, sometimes infuriating, always interesting.

[Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really great collection (as always) with a variety of viewpoints and writing styles. Extremely impactful. I love how they sourced some pieces from online locations.