The nonfiction novel is a literary genre that recounts real historical figures and actual events using the narrative techniques of the novel, including scene construction and reconstructed dialogue, producing a form its own practitioners and critics describe as loosely defined and flexible. The genre is sometimes called faction, blending fact and fiction, and when its subject is the author's own life it shades into autofiction. Truman Capote's In Cold Blood, a 1965 account of the murder of the Clutter family built on years of research and interviews, is the genre's landmark work, though critics including Ben Yagoda have noted that some of its scenes, such as a graveyard conversation Capote himself acknowledged was invented, blur the line between reporting and invention that defines the genre's ongoing controversy.
Facts
Notable ExampleIn Cold Blood by Truman Capote (1965) 1 Defining TraitDepicts nonfictional elements such as real historical figures and actual events using the storytelling techniques of fiction 1 Defining Trait Connections
Subgenre Of
Source Non-fiction novel (Wikipedia)
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Nonfiction novel
Capote's In Cold Blood section
He was immediately intrigued after reading the story of the Clutter murders in The New York Times, and used the events surrounding the crime as a basis for In Cold Blood (1965).
Lead section
The non-fiction novel is a literary genre that, broadly speaking, depicts non-fictional elements, such as real historical figures and actual events, and uses the storytelling techniques of fiction.
View the Source2. Non-fiction novel (Wikipedia)
Lead paragraph, defining sentence
The non-fiction novel is a literary genre that, broadly speaking, depicts non-fictional elements, such as real historical figures and actual events, and uses the storytelling techniques of fiction.
Subgenre Of: The Novel, Lead paragraph, sentence naming the parent genre
The non-fiction novel is a literary genre that, broadly speaking, depicts non-fictional elements, such as real historical figures and actual events, and uses the storytelling techniques of fiction.
In Group: Creative and Narrative Nonfiction, Lead section
The non-fiction novel is a literary genre that, broadly speaking, depicts non-fictional elements, such as real historical figures and actual events, and uses the storytelling techniques of fiction.
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