Intimate Journalism: The Art and Craft of Reporting Everyday Life

by Walt Harrington (Editor)

An exemplary text for courses in feature writing, magazine, and literary journalism, Intimate Journalism introduces students to the cutting-edge art of combining traditional feature writing with deep journalistic inquiry.

This collection of award-winning articles elevates human interest reporting to new heights in the literary journalism field. In a detailed and hands-on, practical primer on in-depth human reporting, editor Walt Harrington prefaces this outstanding collection by sharing the trade secrets from his 15 years as a staff writer for The Washington Post Magazine. Fifteen articles follow, each containing fascinating examples of evocative human reporting by some of the most artful journalists in America. Each article is followed by an invaluable afterword from each journalist describing how he or she conceptualized, reported and wrote their particular story.

In this passionate and intense volume, Harrington gives journalists inspiration and guidance on how to turn ordinary life into extraordinary journalism A must for students and teachers of journalism, for budding magazine and newspaper writers, and for professional journalists who wish to be re-inspired by the superb reporting, distinctive writing, and sound advice found in this text.

The man who couldn't read ; Shadow of a nation / Gary Smith --
The American man at age 10 / Susan Orlean --
The last housewife in America ; TV without guilt / David Finkel --
Mrs. Kelly's monster / Jon Franklin --
Missing Alice / Pete Earley --
In these girls, hope is a muscle ; Zepp's last stand / Madeleine Blais --
Each other's mirror / Jeanne Marie Laskas --
How the world turns in West Philadelphia / Richard Ben Cramer --
Death in Venice / Mike Sager --
True detective ; When daddy comes home ; The shape of her dreaming / Walt Harrington

Genres: Writing, Journalism, Nonfiction

376 pages, Paperback

First published March 28, 1997

Reviews

[Cathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a collection of well-written magazine features pieces, by multiple authors, on a variety of subjects. These pieces are selected to be textbook examples for journalism students to pore over. So these are really, really good literary nonfiction. While the essays are written based on journalists reporting, collecting facts and quotes, they all read like short stories. My favorites include: a piece on a man who couldn't read but fooled everyone into thinking he was literate for over 40 years, a 4-chapter "novella" on a low-income family in west Philadelphia, and an account about how a homicide detective does his job. There's a piece on a family living with and taking care of their elderly relative that I found inspiring. Other articles in the book, "Edge of a Nation," "In These Girls, Hope is a Muscle" and "Mrs. Kelly's Monster" had won Pulitzer prizes.

[Ray · Rating 5 out of 5]

Long form magazine pieces accompanied by details on the writing process from the author, this was so interesting to read. The pieces themselves were written decades ago but hold up really well due to the care taken by the authors to dive into their subjects life. Susan Orlean, one of my faves, was a draw, but hers wasn't even my favorite.

[Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

Harrington teaches and inspires with his thoughts on narrative non-fiction, and presents stories that show you how it's done at the highest level.

[Wendy · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent model for writing narrative nonfiction in general and profiles in particular. Harrington's "The Shape of Her Dreaming" is a fascinating look at a poet's (Rita Dove's) creative process.

[PJ · Rating 5 out of 5]

The stories in this collection breathe. They are everything I want to write. I especially love "In These Girls Hope Is a Muscle."

[Steven Shinder · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like Literary Journalism by Norman Sims, this is also a good resource to show people how to write good journalism techniques.