Part 1: Who made this name up? ; The changemakers ; The first creative nonfictionists ; A statue of a woman in the Pittsburgh airport and all she represents ; What white publishers won't print ; F*** the establishment ; The imperfect primer
Part 2: The shoe dog goes to college ; A mentor, a mountain man, and the beginning of the writing life ; Innocent victims ; Manipulating material
and the people you are writing about ; A larger reality? Or the untrue truth? ; Dissing the memoir
Part 3: After all, gentlemen, we are interested in literature here
not writing ; Bricks, underwear, and fake vomit
and a Guinness world record ; Writers invading the academy ; Drama and trauma ; Mud and coconuts
Part 4: How creative nonfiction became creative nonfiction ; The first issue: a dining room disaster ; Do poets write prose? ; The first creative nonfiction conference
and George Plimpton's revenge ; The business of art? Or the art of doing business ; The last creative nonfiction "fist-fight"