One top recommendation would have to be In Cold Blood by Truman Capote. When this came out (1966) many said Capote had more or less invented a new genre - the non-fiction novel. This wasn’t really true, but it’s a fair enough description of the brilliant way Capote decided to tell this particular crime story. If you think you know good non-fiction writing, read this and realise why Capote is held in such high esteem. He really raised the bar. He repeated the trick a while later with Hand-carved Coffins, a shorter effort in similar vein.
Final Cut by Steven Bach. Complete account of the making of Heaven’s Gate, the movie that sank a studio, written by the only man who was involved from start to finish.
Last Chance To See by Douglas Adams. Best thing he ever wrote, IMHO. Series of travelogues with an ecological theme. Funny, provocative, superbly well-written, and with that gripping quality you’re looking for.
The Great Shark Hunt by Hunter S. Thompson. Readable, entertaining page-turners don’t come much grippier than this. Unique style, unique views.
C: Because Cowards Get Cancer Too by John Diamond. British journalist and broadcaster John Diamond’s account of his battle with cancer, which he eventually lost (he died on 2001). Honestly, it’s not the maudlin, macabre read you might thnk it is. It’s just wonderful beyond words.
The Battersea Park Road to Enlightenment by Isabel Losada. Impartial and independent writer decides to try out every ‘self-help’ and ‘self-improvement’ therapy in the world (more or less) and describes her journey through this voyage of enlightenment. Great writing, very funny, insightful, charming.
Completely agree about The Devil in the White City as well as The Perfect Storm.
I’ve been enjoying All I Did Was Ask, which is a collection of interviews by Terry Gross of NPR. (Dennis Hopper, Mario Puzo, Dustin Hoffman, Johnny Cash, Jodie Foster, John Updike etc.)
Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail, '72 Hunter S Thompson covering Nixon’s re-election. Some terrifying and funny stuff. Refreshingly, it doesn’t present Nixon as a one dimensional ogre out to kill or maim or whatever everyone he saw. He comes across as human for a change.
The Transparent Society by David Brin. A look at how privacy is going the way of the Dodo and some thoughts on how to cope with it.
The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract by Bill James. A niche item, I admit. But James effectively defines the entire history of baseball from the beginning in the 1800s to the present day with more information than you were aware existed.
Mmmmm, I’m late. A good non-fiction (auto-biographical, but damn entertaining) writer is Augusten Burroughs. His book Running with scissors is a bit shocking,
Dry will make you laugh and cry. (Dammit, that rhymes)
All’s Fair: Love, War, and Running for President recounts the race from the viewpoint of BOTH candidates, through the eyes of Mary Matalin and James Carville, the Beatrice and Benedick of modern politics. VERY amusing, if you’re a political geek like me.
Virtually anything by Bill Bryson. Most of his books are travelogues, and they’re always a pleasure to read and re-read. I especially recommend In a Sunburned Country, which is about his travels through Australia, and A Walk in the Woods, which is about his attempt to hike the length of the Appalachian Trail. A Short History of Nearly Everything isn’t a travelogue, but it was another book of Bryson’s that I just couldn’t put down.
Krakatoa by Simon Winchester.
Why People Believe Weird Things by Michael Shermer.
The Beak of the Finch by Jonathan Weiner. (You were pretty close on the author’s name, Kyla.)
The Code Book by Simon Singh.
The Cuckoo’s Egg by Clifford Stoll
Last Chance to See by Douglas Adams & Mark Carwardine. (Yes, that Douglas Adams.)
The Straight Dope, Return of the Straight Dope, Triumph of the Straight Dope, More of the Straight Dope, and The Straight Dope Tells All, all by Cecil Adams (and occasionally, Ed Zotti).
performs propitionary obeisance to the Perfect Master for our oversight
Ya wanna read nonfiction that’s fun? I gotcher fun right here!
Adventures in Unhistory: Conjectures on the Factual Foundations of Several Ancient Legends, by Avram Davidson (Owlswick Press 1993). You might have a hard time finding this one – Owlswick is a very small imprint – but it’s worth the effort. It has been said of the late Davidson (see http://www.avramdavidson.org/;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avram_Davidson) that his prose “begs to be read aloud.” Most of his ouvre is in fantasy, SF and mysteries (he was one of several authors who wrote as “Ellery Queen”). But this book is a collection of fascinating essays about the life of Aleister Crowley, the origins of the legends of Prester John, mermaids, the phoenix, and many others.
Novelist James Howard Kunstler has written several books of criticism about suburban sprawl, automobile dependency, city planning and modern architecture: The Geography of Nowhere, Home from Nowhere, and The City in Mind. These are much, much better reads than you might expect of writing on such dry topics. Look for his forthcoming The Long Emergency – should be out in a couple of months. You can check out his website at www.kunstler.com.
The same is true of The Next American Nation, a political tract by Michael Lind. You might want to skip straight to the last chapter and read his descriptions of four imaginary “museums” of the American myth(s). Compelling stuff! Especially the mural with the “American Christ” riding as a gunslinger, about to wreak vengeance on Babylon with the help of his fleet of flying saucers full of football quarterbacks. I know, I know, but Lind actually makes it work! Brings tears to your eyes!
Robert Massie? The book won the Pulitzer and he’s also known for writing Nicholas and Alexandra.
If you read A Night To Remember, be sure and read the follow-up, The Night Lives On, written after Ballard rediscovered the wreckage.
*Mike Nelson’s Movie Megacheese * and Mind Over Matters by Michael J. Nelson of MST3K fame are hysterical.
Queen Victoria’s Gene: Hemophilia and the Royal Family by D. M. Potts & W.T.W Potts. But take their opinion on old Victoria being a bastard with a grain of salt.
I came in this thread just because I knew someone would post this and I just had to say that I couldn’t disagree more. I was shocked into speechlessness by how dry and boring this book was, especially since - like you - I had heard time and time again how great it was here on the boards. After suffering through the first 100 pages or so I finally abandoned it and passed it along to all my friends and family members that are interested in the types of things the book discusses and they unanimously hated it.
Seconded. This book was wonderful, and the author really brought the people involved to life.
OTOH, The Perfect Storm was the most difficult book I’ve ever had to read in college and I was an English major, so all I ever did was read. - 75 to 100 pages of drama and 300 pages of mind-numbing description. If you feel the burning need to know how you clinically drown, and all there is to know about storing fish catches, it’s the book for you. Otherwise…
It pains me when people say they don’t like fiction, but I can somewhat relate since I rarely read non-fiction unless it’s how-to, but I doubt you’d want to read a book about Paint Shop Pro 8. I do, however, like biographies, and some really good ones are And I Don’t Want to Live This Life by Deborah Spungen and A Child Called It/Lost Boy/A Man Named Dave by David Pelzer. Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt was good (not very stylishly written, but a good story nonetheless) and 'Tis was okay. I also really liked Roots and Queen by Alex Haley and **A Heart Breaking Work of Staggering Genius ** by Dave Eggers, but all three are only arguably non-fiction. I think we’re all prone to reimagining and embellishment to some degree, so I forgive them if those books aren’t 100% truthful. YMMV
If you develop a taste for life stories, there are many fictional books that don’t really feel that “made up” because the people feel real and have realistic problems. Ximena at the Crossroads by Laura Riesco, Jewel by Bret Lott, Icy Sparks by Gwyn Hyman Rubio and Witch Child & **Sorceress ** by Celia Rees are some examples of books that lull you into thinking that there’s been a mistake made, and they were accidentally labelled as fiction
Well, off the top of my head I can recommend And The Band Played On and Conduct Unbecoming, both by Randy Shilts. I found ATBPO after seeing the telemovie made for (IIRC) HBO. Fascinating stuff - but they are both on homosexuality, so you’d have to be reasonably open-minded on the topic.
From an autobiography standpoint, I enjoyed both Me : Stories of My Life by Katherine Hepburn and Ingrid Bergman: My Story by Ingrid Bergman. Of course, as autobiographies they are somewhat biased toward their subject.
A little farther back in history brings us to *Eleanor of Aquitaine : A Life * by Alison Weir. This one is a little more dry, but still enjoyable.
A lot of good stuff already listed; if you’re willing to give a “different” type of fiction a try, I’d recommend the place-oriented books by James Michener - particularly The Source, Texas, and Chesapeake. I’ve been told Hawaii is excellent, but for some reason I’ve never been able to get through it, although I can read just about anything else the man has written.
And if somehow you’ve made it through school without reading The Diary of Anne Frank, I’d recommend that paired with Anne Frank Remembered by Miep Gies. (There are some other good ones on this topic, I’m told, but I haven’t caught all of them yet myself. A very similar & very good book is The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom.
I’m going to stop now before this turns into the marathon post from hell - in 3D.
This thread is like a dream come true!! It’s so hard to find good non-fiction, it’s great to hear some Doper recommendations. I’m thinking about printing out this thread before my next trip to the library.
I just finished Salt: A World History by Mark Kurlansky. Lots of “wow, I didn’t realize that’s how they did that” moments in this one.
I’ve heard good things about The Philosopher’s Dog (can’t remember author)
I can’t say enough good things about Seabiscuit. I’ve read it 3 times and will probly read it again soon. It’s like being with old friends again to go back to the story.
No matter what you think of his politics, Charlton Heston’s autobiography In the Arena is an engaging read. He has been involved in so many classic productions, it’s a great overview of “old hollywood”. (He doesn’t talk about the NRA at all)
Would George Carlin’s Brain Droppings be considered non-fiction? I can’t wait to get his new one When Will Jesus Bring the Pork Chops?
Jumping Fire; A Smokejumper’s Memoir of Fighting Wildfire
by Murry A. Taylor
I second Icebound and The Coming Plague Alive! is an older one that you’ll be able to find in a used book store.
Instead try Holy Blood, Holy Grail by historians Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh. It is their theory that Brown stole for his book. They are sueing him.
Among autobiographies try:
Travels by Michael Crichton. I don’t like his fiction but this is very good. He skips huge chunks of his life to concentrate on meaningful events.
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers. Part autobiography, part God knows what. Races along. Read everything even the endpapers.
Point Last Seen by Hannah Nyala. A woman tracker deals with lost tourists and her nutball husband.
The Last Victim by Jason Moss. Jason decides a good school assignment will be to become the penpal of serial killers. His visit with John Wayne Gacy is an eye-opener.
X-Ray by Ray Davies. The head Kink makes himself a character in a book about him, as a young employee of a faceless corporation interviewing grumpy old Ray Davies “the musician”.
The Diary of a Young Girl Anne Frank.
Private Parts by Howard Stern. Damn funny and lots happening.
Breaking Blue by Timothy Egan. While doing a college assignment a cop in Washington state uncovers a 50 year old murder.
