Literary Selves

Departing from previous discussions of literary nonfiction in terms of its being literature or journalism this new study treats literary nonfiction as autobiography examining a large body of work in terms of autobiographical theory. The collected works of six very different prominent literary journalists--John McPhee Joe McGinniss Tom Wolfe Joan Didion Hunter S. Thompson and Norman Mailer--are analyzed from literary autobiographical and cultural perspectives. Author James Stull explains how the complex fully-rounded psychological and social self is crystalized in these works into a more encompassing statement of self-identification which he calls a metaphor of self a distinctive way an author presents a self and its world. Numerous other writers and critics are brought into the discussion and the author provides an extensive reference bibliography.