LITERARY JOURNALISM STUDIES LITERARY SPQ+A: David Abrahamson interviews Michael Norman Return address: Literary Journalism Studies School of Journalism Ryerson University Literary Journalism Studies 350 Victoria Street Vol. 7, No. 2, Fall 2015 Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5B 2K3 In This Issue n Michael Jacobs on Tom Wolfe’s Acid Test n John C. Hartsock on Svetlana Alexievich n Magdalena Horodecka on Kapuściński + Herodotus n Kate McQueen on Sling’s German Crime Reportage n Julien Gorbach on Ben Hecht’s Proto–New Journalism VOL. 7, NO. 2, FALL 2015 7, NO. 2, FALL VOL. n Josh Roiland on the Case for ‘Literary Journalism’ n Nicholas Lemann on the Journalism in Literary Journalism Published at the Medill School of Journalism, Northwestern University 1845 Sheridan Road, Evanston, IL 60208, United States The Journal of the International Association for Literary Journalism Studies Jack Robinson, who in late 1965 snapped the cover picture of Tom Wolfe at the New York Herald Tribune, shot countless pictures of politicians, film stars, rock stars, celebrities, and, yes, writers, for the New York Times, Vogue, and Life magazines, from the 1950s until the early 1970s, at which point he fled Andy Warhol’s Factory scene, and its excesses, for Memphis, Tennessee. There, he led a much quieter, sober existence as a stained-glass window maker. Courtesy the Jack Robinson Archive, LLC; www.robinsonarchive.com. Literary Journalism Studies The Journal of the International Association for Literary Journalism Studies Vol. 7, No. 2, Fall 2015 ––––––––––––––––– Information for Contributors 4 Note from the Editor 5 ––––––––––––––––– Into the Courtroom: Paul “Sling” Schlesinger and the Origins of German Literary Trial Reportage by Kate McQueen 8 Four stories from the Vossische Zeitung: The Naked Man in the Meadow, The Beast, The Writers, The Crumbs of Humanity by Paul “Sling” Schlesinger 28 Literary Journalism and the Aesthetics of Experience: Svetlana Alexievich by John Hartsock 36 Keynote Address, IALJS-10, Minneapolis, USA, May 8, 2015 The Journalism in Literary Journalism by Nicholas Lemann 50 By Any Other Name: The Case for Literary Journalism The Journalism in Literary Journalism: A Response by Josh Roiland 60 Ben Hecht: The Old New Journalist by Julien Gorbach 90 The Hermeneutic Relation Between Reporter and Ancient Historian: Ryszard Kapuściński’s Travels with Herodotus by Magdalena Horodecka 118 Confronting the (Un)Reality of Pranksterdom: Tom Wolfe and The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test by Michael Jacobs 132 Scholar-Practitioner Q+A David Abrahamson interviews Michael Norman 152 Book Reviews Susan L. Greenberg, Lee Gutkind and Hattie Fletcher, Terrence Holt, Phillip Lopate, Amber Roessner 165 ––––––––––––––––– Mission Statement 182 International Association for Literary Journalism Studies 183 2 Literary Journalism Studies Copyright © 2015 International Association for Literary Journalism Studies All rights reserved Website: www.literaryjournalismstudies.org Literary Journalism Studies is the journal of the International Association for Literary Journalism Studies and is published twice yearly. For information on subscribing or membership, go to www.ialjs.org. Member of the Council of Editors of Learned Journals Published twice a year, Spring and Fall issues. Subscriptions, $50/year (individuals), $75/year (libraries). ISSN 1944-897X (paper) ISSN 1944-8988 (online) 3 Literary Journalism Studies Editor Advisory Board Bill Reynolds Robert Alexander, John S. Bak, Ryerson University Jo Bech-Karlsen, R. Thomas Berner, Canada Myriam Boucharenc, Robert S. Boynton, Associate Editors Thomas B. Connery, Juan Domingues, David Eason, Tobias Eberwein, Lynn Cunningham Ryerson University Shelley Fisher Fishkin, Leonora Flis, Canada Kathy Roberts Forde, Brian Gabrial, Ellen Garvey, Susan Greenberg, William Dow Vera Hanna, Roberto Herrscher, American University of Paris France Tim Holmes, Beate Josephi, Richard Lance Keeble, Willa McDonald, Miles Maguire Jenny McKay, Isabelle Meuret, University of Wisconsin John J. Pauly, Guillaume Pinson, Oshkosh, United States Joshua M. Roiland, Barry Siegel, Roberta S. Maguire Norman Sims, Isabel Soares, University of Wisconsin Marie-Eve Thérenty, Alice Donat Trindade, Oshkosh, United States Andie Tucher, Doug Underwood, Jan Whitt, Christopher P. Wilson, Book Review Editor Mateusz Zimnoch, Sonja Merljak Zvodc Nancy L. Roberts University at Albany, SUNY United States Web Administrator Nicholas Jackson Publisher David Abrahamson Founding Editor Northwestern University United States John C. Hartsock Editorial Offices Literary Journalism Studies School of Journalism Ryerson University 350 Victoria Street Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5B 2K3 Email: [email protected] Published at the Medill School of Journalism, Northwestern University 1845 Sheridan Road, Evanston, IL 60208, United States 4 SUBMISSION INFORMATION ITERARY JOURNALISM STUDIES invites submissions of original scholarly L articles on literary journalism, which is also known as narrative journalism, liter- ary reportage, reportage literature, New Journalism, and the nonfiction novel, as well as literary and narrative nonfiction that emphasizes cultural revelation. The journal has an international focus and seeks submissions on the theory, history, and pedagogy of literary journalism throughout the world. All disciplinary approaches are welcome. Submissions should be informed with an awareness of the existing scholarship and should be between 3,000 and 8,000 words in length, including notes. To encourage international dialogue, the journal is open to publishing on occasion short examples or excerpts of previously published literary journalism accompanied by a scholarly gloss about or an interview with the writer who is not widely known outside his or her country. The example or excerpt must be translated into English. The scholarly gloss or interview should generally be between 1,500 and 2,500 words long and in- dicate why the example is important in the context of its national culture. Together, both the text and the gloss generally should not exceed 8,000 words in length. The contributor is responsible for obtaining all copyright permissions, including from the publisher, author and translator as necessary. The journal is also willing to consider publication of exclusive excerpts of narrative literary journalism accepted for publica- tion by major publishers. Email submission (as a Microsoft Word attachment) is mandatory. A cover page in- dicating the title of the paper, the author’s name, institutional affiliation, and contact information, along with an abstract (50–100 words), should accompany all submis- sions. The cover page should be sent as a separate attachment from the abstract and submission to facilitate distribution to readers. No identification should appear linking the author to the submission or abstract. All submissions must be in English Microsoft Word and follow the Chicago Manual of Style (Humanities endnote style) <http://www. chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide.html>. All submissions will be blind re- viewed. Send submissions to the editor at <[email protected]>. Copyright reverts to the contributor after publication with the provision that if re- published reference is made to initial publication in Literary Journalism Studies. OOK REVIEWS are invited. They should be 1,000–2,000 words and focus on Bthe scholarship of literary journalism and recent original works of literary jour- nalism that deserve greater recognition among scholars. Book reviews are not blind reviewed but selected by the book review editor based on merit. Reviewers may sug- gest book review prospects or write the book review editor for suggestions. Usually reviewers will be responsible for obtaining their respective books. Book reviews and/ or related queries should be sent to Nancy L. Roberts at <[email protected]> 5 Note from the Editor… lthough literary journalism can have immediate impact A(Hiroshima, Silent Spring), it is not often thought of as newsworthy, or even newsy. Its essence usually involves deep immersion in the field—the gathering—followed by long bouts of rumination at the desk. The latter task, involving pure reflec- tion—call it the not-gathering—is necessary if only to discover just exactly what the story is really about. The deskwork, or laptop work, or scroll work, or the pasting up and moving pieces of paper around on the wall kind of work, nourishes a comple- mentary yearning to present material in as writerly a way as possible. Yes, voice is important. And yet this not-news quality is not always absent. There have been two recent instances when the news included literary journalism. The big announcement was the awarding of a Nobel prize for literature in October to a writer who can be snugly labeled a literary journalist. And while not quite news of that magnitude, still impres- sively newsy was Vanity Fair pairing a current high-profile literary journalist with the patriarch of the New Journalism for an eighteen-page magazine feature. The first event spurred contributor John C. Hartsock to offer the journal an excerpt from his forthcoming book, Literary Journalism and the Aesthetics of Experi- ence (University of Massachusetts Press, early 2016). Specifically, LJS was interested in Hartsock’s thoughts on Belarusian writer Svetlana Alexievich, whose books include Zinky Boys: Soviet Voices from the Afghanistan War (1992) and Voices from Chernobyl: The Oral History of a Nuclear Disaster (2005). Hartsock writes that