More Nonfiction Inspirations

Since Wednesday's class my mind has been flooded with the names of nonfiction authors that somehow refused to be recalled by my brain when we were making our "Inspirational Author" posts. My omission of David Sedaris's name from my list had me kicking myself the entire bus ride home that night. Tobias Wolff's name emerged Thursday morning, Tony Horwitz, Truman Capote and Frank McCourt came by that evening. (On a side note: Why is it that when asked to recall something, the titles of favorite books for instance, one's brain often goes blank? It is like a bizarre performance anxiety of the brain. Or maybe it isn't that the mind goes blank but that it is flooded with so many options that it disguises itself as blank in order to keep from being overwhelmed. Either way-- what an annoyance.)

There are two authors, however, that I feel compelled to briefly glorify on this new post, mostly because their work is so influencing mine at this moment:

Bill Bryson. I read his newest volume, At Home, this past winter and was completely captivated by it. It was tangential and incredibly detailed--two qualities that often prove to be the kiss of death for similarly long-winded works of nonfiction. However, even as he described the origin of the parlor and the impact of the electric stove, I was glued to each word he wrote. In my opinion, he was able to assert such command over me as a reader for several reasons: First, the book was outrageously well researched. Delving into obscure texts he found information not just on the larger themes of his chapters but also on smaller, equally interesting though perhaps not as relevant subjects. Second, Bryson has cultivated a voice and tone in his works that is friendly and warm, throwing 

authoritativeness to the wayside and substituting instead a voice that exuded the excitement of new discovery and insight, which inspired and then mimicked this reader's own excitement while reading. I have yet to read his many other works, but I look forward to evaluating when and how he established these skills as a nonfiction writer. I think I'll be picking up The Lost Continent next. (photo source: www.randomhouse.com/features/billbryson/)

Studs Terkel. At first I wondered if one could label this extraordinary man a nonfiction author. He was a radio man of the kind (fearless, progressive, an unapologetic cigar-smoker) that no longer exists. However, because his work went beyond radio and were transcribed into books, I think he is fair nonfiction game. Terkel was both a genius in asking the right questions and knowing when to shut up--two qualities I long for as a writer. He let his subjects do their own talking, and thanks to this technique his works (particularly those on the Great Depression and the civil rights movement) provide us with invaluable insight into the lives and thinking of individuals who would otherwise be completely lost to history. In reading his work, it seems as though he was always confident that every person has an interesting story that they are able to tell for themselves--a humbling notion that I hope to remember throughout my writing career. (photo source: guardian.co.uk)