Week Eight

Why do people read narrative nonfiction? Reasons are many and varied, not unlike reasons for reading fiction.  Both have various appeal characteristics and genres and can work well together in readers’ advisory.


Week 8: Assignment 1
Read the following two articles for an introduction to nonfiction readers’ advisory.

• Borderlands: Crossing between Nonfiction in Readers’ Advisory
  No rocket science here but the increased awareness to "think outside the fiction box" is welcome.
• Reading Nonfiction for Pleasure: What Motivates Readers?
  Both articles mentioned:  "An interest in a particular subject can trump the distinction between fiction and nonfiction." Frankly, the idea that "narrative" nonfiction has been isolated for readers services attention is a bit off putting to me.  Critical biographies, coffee table decorating books, cookbooks, etc. are all examples of nonfiction that is NOT narrative and with which customers may appreciate be connected. We should not isolate our genres so strongly.

Week 8: Assignment 2
View this E-Learning video produced by the Maryland State Library Resource Center.

Watched it.  Nice.  

Week 8: Assignment 3
Choose any four of the 16 nonfiction genres presented in the video. In what Dewey area(s) did you find narrative nonfiction in these genres? List each of the four genres and their Dewey areas on your blog. Choose one book from each of these four genres that you could recommend to someone who normally reads only fiction. List these titles and their authors.

Essays:  Matching call number is mostly 814s (literary essays) but essays can be found in multiple areas if they are thematic (nature, travel, cooking, etc.)  Any David Sedaris (Someday Me Talk Pretty.)

Adventure:Matching call numbers include:  796.522 (Survival, etc.); Biographies, 327 (Espionage).  Into Thin Air.

Biography:  Matching call number is "Biography."

• Let's Pretend This Never Happened by Jennifer Lawson
  As funny as Sedaris at his peak but more authentic. Lawson has a great voice for describing herself from outside so that the loony behavior has a context for seeming rational. Funny essays for pick up and put down reading (such as at the beach.)
  
  Family, marriage, and taxidermy all come under attack and she has a true talent for narrating how insane ideas may actually seem like a good idea at the time.  The language and adult topics make it a better read for more mature readers but the youthful perspective means, not TOO mature.

Contemporary Social Issues:  Depends on the issues but 306s for sexuality, 324s for politics, 333 for environmental, etc.

•  Place for Us: Essay on the Broadway Musical.  Ok, this is probably more appropriate in the essay category but I didn't want to have two titles reviewed in the same classification so I'm calling it "social issues" because of it's focus on why gay men have such an apparent affinity for Broadway musicals.  D.A. Miller's voice is a bit more academic that a work profiling a popular culture medium should be but touches on valid points about repressed desires, drama, glamor, subtle tribal rituals, and other quiet attributes that have made the cliche about gay men and Broadway musicals valid.  Short and succinct, it is a must read for show queens.

Week 8: Assignment 4
Using appeal factors, write a 1-2 paragraph book talk for two of the four titles you would recommend, noting who you would recommend them to and why. Post these on your blog.

See two blurbs above.