Enter Narrative Non-Fiction

In case you haven't heard about it, there's a new genre on the book scene.  It's rather interesting to define and could be considered a literary chameleon since it goes by many names; so far, not one name has stuck to books belonging to this genre.  Among some of the names include narrative non-fiction, literary journalism, creative non-fiction, fact-based storytelling, and non-fiction novels.

Whatever you want to call it, narrative non-fiction simply explained is an actual event or series of actual events told in an interesting, story format with a beginning, middle, and end.  As with regular fiction, narrative non-fiction builds up the story and keeps the reader in suspense; unless it's an absurdly well-known historical subject, the reader will be kept hanging until the conclusion.  For those who view books dealing with historical or current events as dry and lifeless, narrative non-fiction puts the life and storytelling elements into those events.

Some noteworthy examples of current narrative non-fiction:

Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo
A journalist writes about people living in poverty in a makeshift settlement near the Mumbai airport who are hopeful of living a better lives.

In the Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson
Recounts the experiences of William E. Dodd, the American ambassador in Berlin during the rise of the Hitler and the Nazis in the 1930s.

The Dressmaker of Khair Khana by Gayle Tzemach Lemmon
The true story of Kamila Sidiqi, a university-educated Afghan woman living in Kabul, who is innovative and creative in supporting herself and her family under the Taliban regime in which women are forbidden to work.

Do you have any narrative non-fiction recommendations?  Share them with us!

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