Narrative Nonfiction

Nonfiction that reads like fiction goes under many names, including creative nonfiction, literary nonfiction, literary journalism, narrative nonfiction and fact-based storytelling. In short, it’s fact-based storytelling that reads like fiction and tends to be very compelling. Narrative nonfiction can be found in various forms including; personal essays, memoir, travel writing, food writing, biography or prose writing. If you enjoy historical fiction, crime novels or fictionalized accounts of real people you may enjoy narrative nonfiction. To get started, check out one of the following authors:

Erik Larson

• In the Garden of Beasts: love, terror, and an American family in Hitler’s Berlin (2011)

• The Devil in the White City: murder, magic and madness at the fair that changed America (2003)

• Isaac’s Storm: a man, a time, and the deadliest hurricane in history (1999)

Truman Capote

• In Cold Blood: a true account of a multiple murder and its consequences (1965)

Simon Winchester

• Atlantic: great sea battles, heroic discoveries, titanic storms, and a vast ocean of a million stories (2010)

• The Man who Loved China: the fantastic story of an eccentric scientist who unlocked the mysteries of the Middle Kingdom (2008)

• Krakatoa: the day the world exploded, August 27, 1883 (2003)

Jon Krakauer

• Where Men Win Glory: the odyssey of Pat Tillman (2009)

• Under the Banner of Heaven: a story of a violent faith (2003)

• Into Thin Air: a personal account of Mt. Everest disaster (1997)

Sebastian Junger

• War (2010)

• A Death in Belmont (2006)

• The Perfect Storm: a true story of men against the sea (1997)

Laura Hillenbrand

• Unbroken: a World War II story of survival, resilience, and redemption (2010)

• Seabiscuit: an American legend (2001)

Rebecca Skloot

• The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks (2010)