novel

[Garson O'Toole]

The blurring of categories suggested by the term "non-fiction novel"
may be relevant to the tracing of the evolution of the term "novel" to
include a wider variety of textual objects.

The OED has a citation that includes the phrase "non-fiction novel"
under: non-fiction B. adj. (attrib.).

[Begin excerpt]
1965 Vogue 15 Oct. 94   [Truman] Capote is an experimenter, an
adventurer. His newest experiment is In Cold Blood, a unique book, for
it is the first non-fiction novel, a precise documentary, in many ways
brilliantly composed.
[End excerpt]

Capote's book is a famous example of the "non-fiction novel" genre.
Here is an instance of the term "non-fiction novel" in 1948:

Dew on Jordan  by Harold Preece; Celia Kraft
Review by: Marcus Bach
The Journal of American Folklore, Vol. 61, No. 240 (Apr. - Jun., 1948), p. 227
Published by: American Folklore Society
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/536144

[Begin except]
In storybook style the deep impulses that sweep with primitive passion
through the lives of Southern hill country folks are here interpreted
and, unfortunately, highly fictionized. ... Out of a series of
salacious and sensational jottings, a novelistic journal of religious
impulses has been chronicled. ...
Where caricature is necessary to achieve this purpose, the authors do
not hesitate to make the most of it.  This leads to the belief that
behind the preparation of this non-fiction novel was little study and
scanty knowledge of the wide range characteristics, the social
implications, and the historicity of the groups under discussion.
[End excerpt]

Google Books also has a match for "non-fiction novel" that has a GB
date of 1931. The Volume number is correct for the year. A date probe
with 1931 looks ok. But I have not checked it on paper. This data
might be inaccurate.

The military surgeon: journal of the Association of Military: Volume 69
Association of Military Surgeons of the United States - 1931 - Snippet view

[Begin GB excerpt]
And every sentence, every line, every word, though written in a
difficult German diction is fascinating and instructive, an
encyclopedia of knowledge under the covers of a non-fiction novel.
[End GB excerpt]

Garson

On Fri, Dec 2, 2011 at 11:09 AM, Jonathan Lighter
<wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: novel
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> No. It describes the contents of Chamberlain's book.
>
> It doesn't cover _Pacem in Terris_ either.
>
> JL
>
> On Fri, Dec 2, 2011 at 9:45 AM, Dan Goncharoff <thegonch at gmail.com> wrote:
>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
>> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>> Poster:       Dan Goncharoff <thegonch at GMAIL.COM>
>> Subject:      Re: novel
>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> Is it possible the reference to 'combat stories' is meant to start a new
>> list?
>> DanG
>>
>>
>> On Fri, Dec 2, 2011 at 9:36 AM, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>wrote:
>>
>>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>>> -----------------------
>>> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>>> Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
>>> Subject:      Re: novel
>>>
>>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>>
>>> It may be a stretch, but here is a 1965 use of "novel" which
>>> functionally, if perhaps inadvertently, includes a collection of short
>>> stories and nonfiction works as well. The first four titles are
>>> fiction. The rest aren't. There is no transition between categories:
>>>
>>> 1965 _L.A. Times_ (Oct. 24) B30 [ProQuest]: [Headline] Bombarded With
>>> War Novels. ...If you enjoy novels about the war, there are a number
>>> of new titles available: THE TRAITOR by William L. Shirer...THE BIG
>>> WAR by Anton Myrer...UP FROM THE BEACH by George Barr...HELLBENT FOR
>>> GLORY by William Chamberlain...Combat stories of World War II and
>>> Korea...THE FRIENDLY DEAD by T. Grady Gallant...An excellent account
>>> of the Marines at Iwo Jima...THE TIRPITZ AND THE BATTLE FOR THE NORTH
>>> ATLANTIC by David Woodward...PACEM IN TERRIS... [by] Pope John XXIII.
>>>
>>> The headline writer might easily have written "book" over "novel" and
>>> even saved a space in doing so.
>>>
>>> This is the sort of case that might easily be dismissed as some sort
>>> of careless error, and perhaps that's all that it is, but on such
>>> errors semantic change often depends.
>>>
>>> JL
>>>
>>> --
>>> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
>>>
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>>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>>>
>>
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>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>
>
>
> --
> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
>
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