Blurring the Boundaries: Explorations to the Fringes of Nonfiction

Contemporary discussions on nonfiction are often riddled with questions about the boundaries between truth and memory, honesty and artifice, facts and lies.  Just how much truth is in nonfiction?  How much is a lie? Blurring the Boundaries sets out to answer such questions while simultaneously exploring the limits of the form.

This collection features twenty genre-bending essays from today’s most renowned teachers and writers—including original work from Michael Martone, Marcia Aldrich, Dinty W. Moore, Lia Purpura, and Robin Hemley, among others. These essays experiment with structure, style, and subject matter, and each is accompanied by the writer’s personal reflection on the work itself, illuminating his or her struggles along the way. As these innovative writers stretch the limits of genre, they take us with them, offering readers a front-row seat to an ever-evolving form.

Readers also receive a practical approach to craft thanks to the unique writing exercises provided by the writers themselves. Part groundbreaking nonfiction collection, part writing reference, Blurring the Boundaries serves as the ideal book for literary lovers and practitioners of the craft. 

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Blurring the Boundaries: Explorations to the Fringes of Nonfiction

Contemporary discussions on nonfiction are often riddled with questions about the boundaries between truth and memory, honesty and artifice, facts and lies.  Just how much truth is in nonfiction?  How much is a lie? Blurring the Boundaries sets out to answer such questions while simultaneously exploring the limits of the form.

This collection features twenty genre-bending essays from today’s most renowned teachers and writers—including original work from Michael Martone, Marcia Aldrich, Dinty W. Moore, Lia Purpura, and Robin Hemley, among others. These essays experiment with structure, style, and subject matter, and each is accompanied by the writer’s personal reflection on the work itself, illuminating his or her struggles along the way. As these innovative writers stretch the limits of genre, they take us with them, offering readers a front-row seat to an ever-evolving form.

Readers also receive a practical approach to craft thanks to the unique writing exercises provided by the writers themselves. Part groundbreaking nonfiction collection, part writing reference, Blurring the Boundaries serves as the ideal book for literary lovers and practitioners of the craft. 

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Blurring the Boundaries: Explorations to the Fringes of Nonfiction

Blurring the Boundaries: Explorations to the Fringes of Nonfiction

Blurring the Boundaries: Explorations to the Fringes of Nonfiction

Blurring the Boundaries: Explorations to the Fringes of Nonfiction

Paperback(New Edition)

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Overview

Contemporary discussions on nonfiction are often riddled with questions about the boundaries between truth and memory, honesty and artifice, facts and lies.  Just how much truth is in nonfiction?  How much is a lie? Blurring the Boundaries sets out to answer such questions while simultaneously exploring the limits of the form.

This collection features twenty genre-bending essays from today’s most renowned teachers and writers—including original work from Michael Martone, Marcia Aldrich, Dinty W. Moore, Lia Purpura, and Robin Hemley, among others. These essays experiment with structure, style, and subject matter, and each is accompanied by the writer’s personal reflection on the work itself, illuminating his or her struggles along the way. As these innovative writers stretch the limits of genre, they take us with them, offering readers a front-row seat to an ever-evolving form.

Readers also receive a practical approach to craft thanks to the unique writing exercises provided by the writers themselves. Part groundbreaking nonfiction collection, part writing reference, Blurring the Boundaries serves as the ideal book for literary lovers and practitioners of the craft. 


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780803236486
Publisher: Nebraska Paperback
Publication date: 03/01/2013
Edition description: New Edition
Pages: 280
Product dimensions: 5.40(w) x 8.40(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author


B.J. Hollars is an assistant professor of English at the University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire. He is the author of several books including From the Mouths of Dogs: What Our Pets Teach Us About Life, Death, and Being HumanThirteen Loops: Race, Violence, The Last Lynching in America and Opening the Doors: The Desegregation of the University of Alabama and the Fight for Civil Rights in Tuscaloosa, and Flock Together: A Love Affair with Extinct Birds

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments ix

Introduction: Let the Blurring Begin B.J. Hollars 1

The Structure of Trouble Marcia Aldrich 7

On "The Structure of Trouble": Fitting Function to Form 20 Monica Berlin

The Eighteenth Week 24

On "The Eighteenth Week": On Point of View 30 Eula Biss

Time and Distance Overcome 34

On "Time and Distance Overcome": The Rewards of Research 42 Ryan Boudinot

An Essay and a Story about Mötley Crüe 44

On "An Essay and a Story about Mötley Crüe": Knowing One's Audience and Making Your Dreams Come True 52 Ashley Butler

Dazzle 54

On "Dazzle": The Fluidity of Boundaries 58 Steven Church

Thirty Minutes to the End: An Essay to My Aunt Judy on the Occasion of the May 4, 2007, Tornado 60

On "Thirty Minutes to the End: An Essay to My Aunt Judy on the Occasion of the May 4, 2007, Tornado": Rethinking Genre 68 Stuart Dybek

Bait 72

On "Bait": The Hybridity of Form 76 Beth Ann Fennelly

Salvos into the World of Hummers 79

On "Salvos into the World of Hummers": The Convergence of Subject and Style 95 Robin Hemley

Flagpole Wedding, Coshocton, Ohio, 1946: An Essay on Process 97

On "Flagpole Wedding, Coshocton, Ohio, 1946: An Essay on Process": Transitioning from Notes to Novel 103 Naomi Kimbell

Whistling in the Dark 105

On "Whistling in the Dark": When Telling Lies Reveals Truth 117 Kim Dana Kupperman

71 Fragments for a Chronology of Possibility 120

On "71 Fragments for a Chronology of Possibility": An Eight-Fragment, Five-Paragraph Essay 132 Paul Maliszewski

Headaches 135

On "Headaches": Articulating the Inexplicable 145 Michael Martone

Asymmetry 148

On "Asymmetry": The Typewriter Is Not a Typewriter 162 Ander Monson

Outline toward a Theory of the Mine versus the Mind and the Harvard Outline 165

Outline toward a Reflection on the Outline and the Splitting of the Atom, I Mean the Colorado River, I Mean Our Collective Attentions, or Maybe I Mean the Brain, Which Is Mostly Forks, You Know 176 Dinty W. Moore

Four Essential Tips for Telling the Truth in Personal Memoir and Securing That Blockbuster Book Deal 186

On "Four Essential Tips for Telling the Truth …": Implementing Exaggeration and Humor 196 Susan Neville

A Visit to the Doctor 198

On "A Visit to the Doctor": The Omission of i 207 Brian Oliu

Contra 209

On "Contra": Nostalgia and the Shared Experience 211 Lia Purpura

Squirrel: An Ars Portica 213

On "Squirrel: An Ars Poetica": Starting in One Place and Ending in Another 215 Wendy Rawlings

Why I Hope My Soap Opera Will Outlive Me and Other Confessions about a Dying Art 217

On "Why I Hope My Soap Opera Will Outlive Me and Other Confessions about a Dying Art": Breaking the Fourth Wall 228 Ryan Van Meter

Monster 230

On "Monster": The Immersion Effect 242

Writing Exercises 247

Contributors 259

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