Skip to main content
Presented to you through Paradigm Publishing Services

Yale University Press

Visit our Partner Page See all our books
Chapter
Licensed
Unlicensed Requires Authentication

Chapter 7: The Imperfect Primer

© Yale University Press, New Haven

© Yale University Press, New Haven

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter i
  2. CONTENTS vii
  3. Introduction 1
  4. PART 1
  5. Chapter 1: Who Made This Name Up? 9
  6. Chapter 2: The Changemakers 14
  7. Chapter 3: The First Creative Nonfictionists 23
  8. Chapter 4: A Statue of a Woman in the Pittsburgh Airport and All She Represents 38
  9. Chapter 5: What White Publishers Won’t Print 47
  10. Chapter 6: F*** the Establishment 57
  11. Chapter 7: The Imperfect Primer 70
  12. PART 2
  13. Chapter 8: The Shoe Dog Goes to College 81
  14. Chapter 9: A Mentor, a Mountain Man, and the Beginning of the Writing Life 92
  15. Chapter 10: Innocent Victims 101
  16. Chapter 11: Manipulating Material—and the People You Are Writing About 110
  17. Chapter 12: A Larger Reality? Or the Untrue Truth? 119
  18. Chapter 13: Dissing the Memoir 133
  19. PART 3
  20. Chapter 14: After All, Gentlemen, We Are Interested in Literature Here—Not Writing 147
  21. Chapter 15: Bricks, Underwear, Fake Vomit—and a Guinness World Record 154
  22. Chapter 16: Writers Invading the Academy 163
  23. Chapter 17: Drama and Trauma 171
  24. Chapter 18: Mud and Coconuts 179
  25. PART 4
  26. Chapter 19: How Creative Nonfiction Became Creative Nonfiction 189
  27. Chapter 20: The First Issue: A Dining Room Disaster 201
  28. Chapter 21: Do Poets Write Prose? 211
  29. Chapter 22: The First Creative Nonfiction Conference—and George Plimpton’s Revenge 224
  30. Chapter 23: The Business of Art? Or the Art of Doing the Art Business 236
  31. Chapter 24: The Last Creative Nonfiction “Fist-Fight” 245
  32. Epilogue 253
  33. Acknowledgments 265
  34. Notes 267
  35. Index 281
The Fine Art of Literary Fist-Fighting
This chapter is in the book The Fine Art of Literary Fist-Fighting
https://doi.org/10.12987/9780300274592-008

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter i
  2. CONTENTS vii
  3. Introduction 1
  4. PART 1
  5. Chapter 1: Who Made This Name Up? 9
  6. Chapter 2: The Changemakers 14
  7. Chapter 3: The First Creative Nonfictionists 23
  8. Chapter 4: A Statue of a Woman in the Pittsburgh Airport and All She Represents 38
  9. Chapter 5: What White Publishers Won’t Print 47
  10. Chapter 6: F*** the Establishment 57
  11. Chapter 7: The Imperfect Primer 70
  12. PART 2
  13. Chapter 8: The Shoe Dog Goes to College 81
  14. Chapter 9: A Mentor, a Mountain Man, and the Beginning of the Writing Life 92
  15. Chapter 10: Innocent Victims 101
  16. Chapter 11: Manipulating Material—and the People You Are Writing About 110
  17. Chapter 12: A Larger Reality? Or the Untrue Truth? 119
  18. Chapter 13: Dissing the Memoir 133
  19. PART 3
  20. Chapter 14: After All, Gentlemen, We Are Interested in Literature Here—Not Writing 147
  21. Chapter 15: Bricks, Underwear, Fake Vomit—and a Guinness World Record 154
  22. Chapter 16: Writers Invading the Academy 163
  23. Chapter 17: Drama and Trauma 171
  24. Chapter 18: Mud and Coconuts 179
  25. PART 4
  26. Chapter 19: How Creative Nonfiction Became Creative Nonfiction 189
  27. Chapter 20: The First Issue: A Dining Room Disaster 201
  28. Chapter 21: Do Poets Write Prose? 211
  29. Chapter 22: The First Creative Nonfiction Conference—and George Plimpton’s Revenge 224
  30. Chapter 23: The Business of Art? Or the Art of Doing the Art Business 236
  31. Chapter 24: The Last Creative Nonfiction “Fist-Fight” 245
  32. Epilogue 253
  33. Acknowledgments 265
  34. Notes 267
  35. Index 281
Downloaded on 3.5.2026 from https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.12987/9780300274592-008/html?lang=en
Scroll to top button