# Who is your favorite nonfiction writer? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 26, 2009, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-your-favorite-nonfiction-writer/511685 "2009-09-26T22:49:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2009, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-your-favorite-nonfiction-writer/511685/21 "2009-09-27T16:54:14Z")
Florence King Michael J. Nelson Gretel Ehrlich James Herriot ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2009, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-your-favorite-nonfiction-writer/511685/22 "2009-09-27T17:20:39Z")
Jon Krakauer. Read all his books and waiting for the next. ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2009, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-your-favorite-nonfiction-writer/511685/23 "2009-09-27T17:35:09Z")
Richard Dawkins. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2009, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-your-favorite-nonfiction-writer/511685/24 "2009-09-27T17:35:18Z")
My favorites tend to be those who write well researched books on interesting or amusing topics, not necessarily those whose writing style is unusually good. In no particular order … Simon Winchester Richard Feynman David McCollough Cecil Adams Isaac Asimov Richard Lederer Jan Harold Brunvand ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2009, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-your-favorite-nonfiction-writer/511685/25 "2009-09-27T17:53:17Z")
By percentage of books I have, probably Ian Hogg. ---
**Author:** ![regginbrow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ba9def/32.png) [@regginbrow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/regginbrow)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2009, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-your-favorite-nonfiction-writer/511685/26 "2009-09-27T23:55:05Z")
David Foster Wallace, by far. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2009, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-your-favorite-nonfiction-writer/511685/27 "2009-09-27T23:58:48Z")
Jon Krakauer and [I can’t believe I’m the first one to say] Carl Sagan. ---
**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2009, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-your-favorite-nonfiction-writer/511685/28 "2009-09-28T01:47:07Z")
Bill Bryson Gene Fowler Barbara Tuchman TV Hagenah ---
**Author:** ![cainxinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7bcc69/32.png) [@cainxinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cainxinth)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2009, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-your-favorite-nonfiction-writer/511685/29 "2009-09-28T05:56:56Z")
Michael Lewis Malcolm Gladwell ---
**Author:** ![Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hazle_Weatherfield)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2009, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-your-favorite-nonfiction-writer/511685/30 "2009-09-28T05:59:42Z")
David Sedaris Augusten Burroughs Sylvia Path (her diaries) Haven Kimmel ---
**Author:** ![Imasquare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Imasquare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Imasquare)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2009, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-your-favorite-nonfiction-writer/511685/31 "2009-09-28T07:31:13Z")
Carl Sagan and Bill Bryson. ---
**Author:** ![mo50](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8797f3/32.png) [@mo50](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mo50)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2009, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-your-favorite-nonfiction-writer/511685/32 "2009-09-29T23:07:40Z")
> [@salinqmind](#): > > Bill Bryson and Paul Theroux for tales about travel. David Sedaris for, well, tales. Seconded, and in that precise order! ---
**Author:** ![BKReporter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@BKReporter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BKReporter)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2009, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-your-favorite-nonfiction-writer/511685/33 "2009-09-30T13:48:21Z")
Robert A. Caro. He’s the guy writing the multi-volume biography of LBJ. The books paint an extraordinary picture of how power really works in this country. He also penned a book on Robert Moses, a power broker who was responsible for many of the freeways, parks and failed urban renewal projects built in New York from about the early 1920s to the late 1960s. It’s a fascinating book if you’re interested in the history of urban development. ---
**Author:** ![Dervorin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Dervorin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dervorin)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2009, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-your-favorite-nonfiction-writer/511685/34 "2009-09-30T13:55:37Z")
Among writers not already mentioned: John Gribbin. His science writing is excellent - lucid and accessible without skimping on content or depth. Gerald Durrell has long been a staple in my bookshelf for his travel and natural history writing, and Jerome K. Jerome will always be a favourite, although it might be argued that his books edge over the line into fiction. CP Snow. Jared Diamond (I can’t believe he hasn’t been mentioned already) ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2009, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-your-favorite-nonfiction-writer/511685/35 "2009-09-30T14:25:48Z")
> [@Dervorin](#): > > Jared Diamond (I can’t believe he hasn’t been mentioned already) Probably because he wrote only the one book that everyone liked (and I’m among those who liked it a lot). His followup, _Collapse_, was bloated and self-indulgent – someone should have edited at least 100 pages out of it. ---
**Author:** ![Serenata67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/serenata67/32/10646_2.png) [@Serenata67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Serenata67)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2009, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-your-favorite-nonfiction-writer/511685/36 "2009-10-01T02:53:32Z")
Anthony Bourdain. _Kitchen Confidential_. Love it. ---
**Author:** ![Geek\_Mecha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecae2f/32.png) [@Geek\_Mecha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Geek_Mecha)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2009, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-your-favorite-nonfiction-writer/511685/37 "2009-10-01T03:04:07Z")
Jon Krakauer, Mary Roach, and Atul Gawande. ---
**Author:** ![Proudest\_Monkey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/proudest_monkey/32/13257_2.png) [@Proudest\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Proudest_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2009, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-your-favorite-nonfiction-writer/511685/38 "2009-10-03T23:29:24Z")
Krakauer and Bryson I don’t know if it’s true for all Bryson’s books, but the audio version of the Australia one (sorry, blanking on the exact title–something about a Sunburned Country) is read by him. His own words read in his own voice = wonderful. I’ve listened to it twice and would eagerly do so again. His other books I’ve read on paper (x 2 for A Walk in the Woods) and I’ve yet to find one that didn’t capture me. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2009, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-your-favorite-nonfiction-writer/511685/39 "2009-10-03T23:56:39Z")
Laurie COLWIN, (not Cowrie), a great food writer, and I will second James Herriott. His books have gotten me through some rough times… I don’t know exactly who writes/compiles them, but Uncle John’s Bathroom Readers are my annual gift-to-self to get through the stress and tedium of Christmas. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2009, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-your-favorite-nonfiction-writer/511685/40 "2009-10-04T13:51:54Z")
Agree with everyone on Bill Bryson. If you like music/TV I’ll also throw in Chuck Klosterman, who is wicked clever at de-foibling. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-your-favorite-nonfiction-writer/511685.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-your-favorite-nonfiction-writer/511685.md?page=3)