Non-Fiction is Not a Dirty Word
Not-to-Miss Literary Works
Great, fun non-fiction you’ve got to read.
It is seldom that people go to the non-fiction section of the book store when looking for a witty, funny and enjoyable piece of writing. This is especially unfortunate because of all the great real-life stories that are waiting to be perused. Though summer is nearly over, here are a few great non-fiction reads that are worthy of getting your hands on all year long.
Assassination Vacation-by Sarah Vowell: Vowell is the author of several pieces of non-fiction as well as a contributor to This American Life on NPR. Known as a humorist, journalist and self-professed lover of history she is the perfect guide on the oddly intriguing tour of assassinated presidents. Though many would prefer a vacation to the beach or perhaps Italy Ms. Vowell’s dream vacation includes visits to Ford’s Theatre (the site of Lincoln’s impending doom). Sarah Vowell threads little golden pieces of story strings throughout, intriguing the reader by the interconnectedness of the history of Presidents Lincoln, McKinley and Garfield. She drags her sister and friends along as she visits places important to the deceased presidents and makes the reader wonder why high school history was never so interesting. The only bad part of the book is that it’s over far too soon.
The Know-it-All: One Man’s Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World-by A.J. Jacobs: This book isn’t just a declaration for intellectual supremacy, but a wildly humorous and charming piece of non-fiction. A.J. Jacobs, a writer for Esquire, decides to read the Encyclopedia Britannica from A to Z. Considering the heft of those tomes it is a lofty goal for one man to take on. The book begins, rightly enough, with the letter A introducing the reader to the encyclopedia’s first entry a-ak. Somehow Jacobs manages to bring the most interesting, even sometimes mundane, entries in the encyclopedia to the attention of the reader, while also sneaking bits and pieces of his own life; including the attempts at getting pregnant he and his wife are making. Jacobs hilariously describes how he realizes the encyclopedias are taking over his life when all he can talk about at dinner parties, while watching TV or out shopping, are the various bits of information he’s absorbed through his reading. Jacobs allows the reader to feel as though they have also read an entire library reference section by sharing the gems of what he’s read. By the end of the book readers will be hoping Jacobs will set a new, seemingly impossible task for himself, and report back with the witty and comical details immediately.
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