nonfiction novel?

Arnold Zwicky zwicky at STANFORD.EDU
Thu Mar 6 12:37:23 UTC 2014


On Mar 6, 2014, at 4:26 AM, Amy West <medievalist at W-STS.COM> wrote:
>
> On 3/6/14, 12:01 AM, Automatic digest processor wrote:
>> this is very old news.  from Wikipedia:
>>
>> The non-fiction novel is a literary genre which, broadly speaking, depicts real historical figures and actual events woven together with fictitious conversations and using the storytelling techniques of fiction.
>>   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-fiction_novel
>>
>> Capote's In Cold Blood (1966) is perhaps the most famous in the genre, but scarcely the first.
>>
>> arnold

> Oh my. It used to make me crazier when I found freshmen using "novel"
> for "book" in their Comp. I writings. Now it will become entrenched. . . .

JL has complained about this usage repeatedly.  but what we're dealing with here is something more specialized: non-fiction with manufactured dialogue.  a genuine composite genre.

arnold

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