The New Kings of Nonfiction by Ira Glass

From the Publisher

A collection of stories-some well known, some more obscure- capturing some of the best storytelling of this golden age of nonfiction.

An anthology of the best new masters of nonfiction storytelling, personally chosen and introduced by Ira Glass, the producer and host of the award-winning public radio program This American Life.

These pieces-on teenage white collar criminals, buying a cow, Saddam Hussein, drunken British soccer culture, and how we know everyone in our Rolodex-are meant to mesmerize and inspire.

Publishers Weekly

We're living in an age of great nonfiction writing," says Glass, the host of the radio program This American Life, who picks out 14 of his favorite journalistic features from writers who are "entertainers in the best sense of the word," unafraid to insert their personal perspective into the stories they're telling. The collection really is front-loaded with "kings"-with Susan Orlean and Coco Henson Scales the only female journalists included, despite any number of valid candidates. There's a greater problem with the anthology than its unintentional chauvinism, though. Far from "new," many of its components are more than a decade old-Lawrence Weschler's "Shapinsky's Karma" dates to the mid-1980s-and several have already been published in other books, like the Malcolm Gladwell article that became a chapter in The Tipping Pointor an extract from Bill Buford's Among the Thugs. That's not to say that the articles (and their authors) don't deserve the admiration Glass heaps upon them. The way that Michael Lewis teases out the family drama in the story of a teenage day trader who ran afoul of the SEC, for example, is breathtaking reportage and should be read and reread. For all its excellence, though, this anthology is less revelatory than it makes itself out to be. (Oct. 2)

Felicity D. Walsh - Library Journal

Host of the NPR program This American Life, Glass (The Fairest Fowl: Portraits of Championship Chickens) has collected some gems here. What ties together these nonfiction works, he explains in the introduction, is that the authors are good reporters-good, Glass writes, in that they welcome humor and the human element into their stories, unafraid this will diminish the quality of their work. Topics range from superfund sites (Jack Hitt's "Toxic Dreams") and fans of Manchester United (Bill Buford's "Among the Thugs") to talk radio (David Foster Wallace's "Host") and Val Kilmer (Chuck Klosterman's "Call Me 'Lizard King' No...Really, I Insist")-who is even weirder than you ever thought. Other writers whose nonfiction is featured include Mark Bowden, Malcolm Gladwell, Jack Hitt, Michael Lewis, Susan Orlean, Coco Henson Scales, and Lawrence Weschler. The book is an addictive read all its own; it can also be a wonderful jumping-off point for readers to discover new authors, journals, or web sites with whom/which they may just want to spend more time. Recommended for public and academic libraries.

Kirkus Reviews

A wholly satisfying greatest-hits collection of nonfiction. Just as Dave Eggers and other McSweeneyans get anthologies of their own, Ira Glass-host of NPR's show of gloriously meaningful weirdness, This American Life-now has a bully pulpit from which to proclaim his view of what nonfiction writing should be. From his bashful introduction, Glass defines the wide spectrum of collected items thusly: "There's a cheerful embracing of life in this kind of journalism, and a curiosity about the world." It's as good a description as any to introduce this fine anthology from the likes of Chuck Klosterman, Malcolm Gladwell, Susan Orlean, David Foster Wallace and many more. Subscribers to The Atlantic and the New Yorker may have read many of these stories before, but that's no reason not to take them in again. There's Klosterman's hilarious essay on the unexpected weirdness of Val Kilmer ("He's a Christian Scientist, and he owns an inordinate number of reference books") and Dan Savage's seminal take on infiltrating the GOP as a gay delegate ("I know there are gay Republicans in Seattle-I've beat up enough of them"). But what makes Glass' book better than expected is the editor's diligence in digging into the archives for some great oldies. There's Lawrence Weschler's classic "Shapinsky's Karma," a mid-1980s tale of obsession and the fickleness of the modern (art) world. The most rewarding selection is Lee Sandlin's "Losing the War," a 1997 long-form think-piece from The Chicago Reader in which he forces readers to acknowledge all over again what most World War II books and films try to make us forget: what an absolutely miserable, pointless, blundering, screaming bloody hell it was. Lastly, any bookthat includes even a bit from Bill Buford's magnificent piece of football hooligan reportage, "Among the Thugs," is one that deserves attention. A journalistic mixtape for the ages.

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