Edited by Kevin Kerrane and Ben Yagoda
This is considered by many as one of the very first books on literary journalism. Kevin Kerrane and Ben Yagoda, English and journalism professors at the University of Delaware, were struggling to find an appropriate textbook about literary journalism that they can assign to their students. So they decided to take matters on their own hands. The Art of Fact is the product of their efforts. This is a thick anthology book containing 58 works of literary journalism. It includes works by Charles Dickens, Walt Whitman, John Hersey, Truman Capote, George Orwell, Hunter S. Thompson, Ernest Hemingway, John Steinbeck, Tom Wolfe, Joan Didion, and more.
Every piece in the book is introduced with a commentary about the author and the piece which gives proper context about it being considered as a good example of "literary journalism".
From the preface of the book: "But just what kind of journalism is "literary"? Our five-word answer would be: thoughtfully, artfully, and valuably innovative. The "innovative" is key, for two reasons. First, it is our view that like much else in the twentieth century, journalism has been an object of mass production, turned out according to codified standards and in agreed-upon shapes. These standards are in many ways useful, yet they are also limiting, and for a writer to cast one or more aside can be liberating."
Literary Journalism in the Twentieth Century (2008)
Edited by Norman Sims
Various scholars have contributed to this important collection of essays that discuss the shifting boundaries between literature and journalism and fiction and nonfiction. The pieces directly address literary journalism so this is a must-have for students on the subject. The scholars who contributed pieces to the anthology include Kathy Smith, David Eason, Hugh Kenner, Shelley Fisher Fishkin, John Pauly, William Howarth, Ron Weber, and Tom Connery.
The book features an in-depth analysis of Artists in Uniform, a 1953 piece by Mary McCarthy which is widely considered as a classic in literary journalism.
