Category: Creative Non-Fiction

August 6, 2013

Going Clear by Lawrence Wright **** (of 5)

It took great courage to write this book. Anyone that has ever crossed the Church of Scientology has, pursuant to church ideology, been hounded by...

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April 28, 2013

Detroit: An American Autopsy by Charlie LeDuff **** (of 4)

Detroit, once the nation’s industrial capital, is forty percent vacant. Politicians are corrupt, robbing what little money still flows through the city. Murderous thugs roam...

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January 21, 2013

The Oath by Jeffrey Toobin *** (of 5)

In a surprisingly so-so book, Jeffrey Toobin follows The Nine, his phenomenal account of the Supreme Court’s evolution from the 1970s to the Obama years, with a...

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April 3, 2011

Create Dangerously by Edwidge Danticat *** (of 4)

Twelve essays by Danticat as she wrestles with the meaning of being an immigrant — neither from here, nor there — and the devastating history...

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August 29, 2010

Making Toast by Roger Rosenblatt ** (of 4)

Rosenblatt’s daughter Amy dies unexpectedly from a heart attack at age 40 leaving behind a husband, successful career, and three young children. Roger Rosenblatt and...

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June 21, 2010

Stiff: The Curious Life of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach ** (of 4)

Everything you ever wanted to know about dead people, but were afraid to ask. To her credit, Roach is sassy, often to the point of...

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June 21, 2010

Seabiscuit by Laura Hillenbrand *** (of 4)

The primary reason this story of a race horse, his owner, jockey, and especially, his trainer, became a best seller is Hillenbrand’s ability to create...

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June 18, 2010

Paris to the Moon by Adam Gopnik ** (of 4)

Great writing, but plotless, so it was hard to keep reading. They were better when they were New Yorker Letters from Paris.

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June 18, 2010

Oracle Bones by Peter Hessler **** (of 4)

Normally when a magazine writer — Hessler is a New Yorker correspondent — assembles a book it feels like a compilation of previously published articles....

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June 18, 2010