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What is this kind of journalism called?

post #1 of 24
7/27/10 at 10:44pm
Thread Starter 
I guess it's kind of like an op ed. I am looking for biographies/reviews/etc. that not only cover the factual, but add color and cultural context in an non-partisan yet opinionated way. I want the color more than I want the facts. Examples would include certain types of music reviews, and the Free Darko book (excerpts here - skim the Kobe one to see what I mean). To me it is so much more interesting to read about a subject, person, or event with through the voice of a trustworthy, well-spoken, and intelligent guru who can put it all into context and add emotion to the topic rather than keeping it cold, hard, and only focused on facts. Is there a name for this kind of journalism? Are there places where I can find biographies of this sort but not for NBA players? Thanks.
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post #2 of 24
7/27/10 at 10:50pm
have you read the hunter s thompson articles about jean-claude killy and muhammad ali? that would be a good start of course, most people are so overwhelmingly awed by thompson's style that they start to imitate his "voice", and of course their work ends up being completely derivative rubbish
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post #3 of 24
7/27/10 at 10:51pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by oman View Post
have you read the hunter s thompson articles about jean-claude killy and muhammad ali? that would be a good start of course, most people are so overwhelmingly awed by thompson's style that they start to imitate his "voice", and of course their work ends up being completely derivative rubbish
Yes I've read some of Thompson - and while that is definitely of a similar ilk, I feel it is slightly different. I may be wrong though. I think Gonzo journalism is more in the 1st person, whereas what I am looking for is still the 3rd person, impersonal but at the same time colorful, type of commentary.
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post #4 of 24
7/27/10 at 10:54pm
yeah im not talking about fear and loathing, im talking about his bio-articles i can think of no better use of "colour" than what he wrote about jean-claude killy and muhammad ali - incredibly deep/personal snapshots of very famous people that went far beyond what everyone already knew (or thought they knew)
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post #5 of 24
7/27/10 at 10:56pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by MetroStyles View Post
Yes I've read some of Thompson - and while that is definitely of a similar ilk, I feel it is slightly different. I may be wrong though. I think Gonzo journalism is more in the 1st person, whereas what I am looking for is still the 3rd person, impersonal but at the same time colorful, type of commentary.

Something like "War" by Sebastian Junger?
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post #6 of 24
7/27/10 at 10:57pm
various nonfiction from Norman Mailer, Joan Didion and Joyce Carol Oates would probably fit your bill
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post #7 of 24
7/27/10 at 10:58pm
Sounds like a variant of "New Journalism".
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post #8 of 24
7/27/10 at 10:58pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hombre Secreto View Post
Something like "War" by Sebastian Junger?

Never heard of it, but a quick Amazon review intrigues me. Seems more of a piece based on interviews than a third party, external view. But yeah that's on the right path.
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post #9 of 24
7/27/10 at 11:00pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jekyll View Post
Sounds like a variant of "New Journalism".
Yes! This might be it. I wiki'd the term and considering things like the Atlantic Monthly pop up, whose style I adore, I think this is on the money.
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post #10 of 24
7/27/10 at 11:02pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by MetroStyles View Post
Never heard of it, but a quick Amazon review intrigues me. Seems more of a piece based on interviews than a third party, external view. But yeah that's on the right path.

You might want to also check out "The Lost City of Z" by David Grann.
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post #11 of 24
7/27/10 at 11:07pm
things I've read recently in this vein:
Generation Kill (Rolling Stone reporter embedded with recon Marines invading Iraq)
Jarhead (memoir of Marine basic and Desert Storm)
Making The Corps (Thomas Ricks follows a training platoon through Marine basic)
Fighter's Heart - Harvard boy travels around the world fighting (jujitsu, MMA, boxing, etc.)
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post #12 of 24
7/27/10 at 11:10pm
Thread Starter 
Now that we've nailed down the genre, I am really interested in short profiles/bios/obituaries on people in this vein, again using the Free Darko book as a template. Anything from 2 to 20 pages on a person. Does any periodical/newspaper/journalist routinely pump these kinds of pieces out?
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post #13 of 24
7/27/10 at 11:13pm
Now that that mystery is solved, I was wondering if anyone here knows if the style of Americana story-song where a folkloric subject is sung about in a tenor-range sprechstimme has a name. Examples include "The Devil Went Down To Georgia", the theme song to the SNL parody ad "Big Red", and Johnny Cash's "A Boy Named Sue".

THADVANCEANKS
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post #14 of 24
7/27/10 at 11:15pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by MetroStyles View Post
Now that we've nailed down the genre, I am really interested in short profiles/bios/obituaries on people in this vein, again using the Free Darko book as a template. Anything from 2 to 20 pages on a person. Does any periodical/newspaper/journalist routinely pump these kinds of pieces out?

The New Yorker and Harper's maybe
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post #15 of 24
7/27/10 at 11:16pm
The guy who wrote Black Hawk Down usually writes for The Atlantic these days, I think
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