How do we know whether the book we are reading is true or invented? Is it only because the dust-jacket tells us so? What if the label is playfully or deliberately misleading? Novels can be written that include actual figures, and journalists can write in ways that we usually associate with fiction. This can be confusing for readers. If the act of representing actual people and events in narrative form throws up complex issues, it also makes for compelling reading, and allows writers to explore issues in greater depth than can daily journalism. In this unit, students will examine what happens when writers, whether journalists, novelists or others, tell true stories in books. Works of pioneers of book length journalism are examined as well as contemporary examples.
