Possibly “the Truth, the Whole Truth and Nothing But the Truth”: Attempting to Define Creative Nonfiction

Abstract

Locating such works as Frank McCourt’s Angela’s Ashes or Michael Herr’s Dispatches in any bookshop or library often presents an unexpected challenge for the average reader. As a nonfictional account firmly embedded in the author’s personal experiences, there is strong reason to think that such books would be included in the History section, comfortably situated amongst similarly factual texts of historical discourse. Curiously, however, they are often found sharing shelf space with deliberately fictional novels. This example of inconsistent categorisation is a concern for many readers of such narratives, highlighting the inherent difficulty in establishing the exact status of any written work. However, this issue is acutely relevant to the literary form embodied by texts such as Dispatches, one which combines a distinctly novelistic style of writing with the most meticulous reportage to present a genre known informally as the ‘literature of reality’ or creative nonfiction. There remains a distinct ...