truth or fiction?

[Alexey I. Fuchs]

> What, indeed, is the Russian word for "non-fiction"? Seems so simple,

I suggest a division of general "non-fiction" into different classes in
Russian.
The first word that comes to my mind is "byl'", which is usually put as a
sub-title for a story and meant to say that the events described actually
took place. This is hardly appropriate for any other usage.
One can define "non-fiction" as
"dokumental'naya/technicheskaya/uchebnaya literatura" etc.

In my humble opinion.

                                                                Alexey