WEEK EIGHT- Nonfiction.

    I found the two articles discussing Non-fiction Readers' Advisory rather amusing. What is left out of the discussion is the general gender differences in reading choices. When I became an avid reader (post I Can Read materials) I immediately leapt into Non-fiction books on vehicles [Rockets, Planes, trains, ships, submarines, tanks, automobiles, equipment, Civil War, WW II, etc.) before i tried spooky short stories [bought my first book of Edgar Alan Poe at age 12] and finally hit upon Hero sagas and the Hobbit soon afterwards.  I wanted to learn stuff in a hurry, and novels didn't do that for me. I had to learn to slow down in order to appreciate novels, just as a young person must learn to appreciate art and poetry.
    Novels or long stories took too long to unfold, and as a young man-child I was too impatient for all of that.  Junior High [or Middle School as it is called now] changed my reading habits.  So did adolescence.
    Guys built things in the 60's and 70's--models, go-carts, tree-houses, etc. and fixed things like bikes or musical instruments; or dreamt of exploring or travelling around the world. I also loved drawing. We read stuff that reflected out interests.  Most of what I borrowed from the library until High School was non-fiction.  I think this is pretty typical for male borrowers and readers. I always dug maps and diagrams. I still do. Most non-fiction was written by men in those days....that is not the case today.
     For this reason it is important to find out up front if a reader wants fiction or narrative non-fiction.  There are some people who specifically want one or the other. If a good narrative is involved, there can be a great amount of cross-over. Some fiction authors, such as Michener, Rutherford, Clancy--are barely fictional. Others like Follett, Higgins, MacLean, Cussler, Reilly, Fleming, Furst--provide information but loosely, in a more typical fictional format.
  It is important to find out what kind of a) experience the reader is looking for, b) style of the author, c) content density and d) pacing of the story.
  As both of the authors of the articles state, it is most important to listen to the reader and respond appropriately to their interests and expectations. We mustn't assume that they are looking for a novel any more than we assume an older veteran only wants a unit history from WW II.

       "So what did you think of the Red Badge of Courage? Did it give you the feeling that I had actually been there?"
                                                       -Stephen Crane to William Randolph Hearst