LLST
3016

Reading for Writers: Non-Fiction: Literary Non-Fiction

Eugene Lang College Lib Arts: Literary Studies

RFW Non-Fiction
Fall 2011
Taught By: Alex Halberstadt
Section: A

Course Reference Number: 3730

Credits: 4

This course studies the creative richness of the nonfiction literary narrative, focusing on close reading of nonfiction texts that employ language, imagery or striking conceptual strategies to achieve an expressive power usually associated with fiction. The class holds that many writers of literary nonfiction possess an imagination sparked most intensely by the real world and the writer’s place within it. We will study texts representing a variety of different perspectives, among them classics in the genre (Joan Didion, Bruce Chatwin, Michael Herr) and more recent works (Katherine Boo’s Behind the Beautiful Forevers and texts by David Foster Wallace.) Students will also do writing of their own.

College: Eugene Lang College Lib Arts (LC)

Department: Literary Studies (LLST)

Campus: New York City (GV)

Course Format: Seminar (R)

Max Enrollment: 18