Boynton, Robert S.

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Boynton, Robert S.

PERSONAL: Male. Education: Haverford College, B.A.; Yale University, M.A., 1988.

ADDRESSES: Office—Department of Journalism, New York University, Arthur Carter Hall, 10 Washington Place, New York, NY 10003. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER: Journalist and professor. New York University, New York, NY, director of magazine journalism program and assistant professor of journalism.

WRITINGS:

The New New Journalism: Conversations with America's Best Nonfiction Writers on Their Craft, Vintage Books (New York, NY), 2005.

Contributing editor and writer for publications, including New Yorker, Harper's, Atlantic Monthly, New York Times Magazine, New York Times Book Review, Lingua Franca, New Republic, Nation, Los Angeles Times Book Review, Village Voice, New York Observer, Newsday, Salon, Columbia Journalism Review, Washington Post, Time Digital, Philadelphia Inquirer, Chicago Tribune, Manhattan, Inc., and Rolling Stone.

SIDELIGHTS: Director of New York University's magazine journalism program, Robert S. Boynton has been a prolific writer for and contributing editor to many of the world's most notable magazines. As a professor, Boynton takes a personal interest in the research techniques and creative processes of what he calls the "new new journalists," a contemporary group of reporters who rely on innovative journalistic methods. The New New Journalism: Conversations with America's Best Nonfiction Writers on Their Craft is a compilation of Boynton's interviews with nineteen prominent features writers, who answer questions ranging from how they conduct interviews, organize and/or take notes, and commence writing projects to how they feel about various ethical issues facing modern journalists.

Vanessa Bush, a contributor to Booklist, described The New New Journalism as "a fascinating book that makes the reader want to go out and get every book the writers have written as well as those mentioned as sources of inspiration." A Publishers Weekly reviewer remarked that "this batch of discussions is a gold mine of technique, approach and philosophy for journalists, writers and close readers alike." Writing for the Weekly Standard, Diane Scharper commented: "Part history of the movement, part close-up of its practitioners, this book … makes new (or new new) journalism more alluring than ever." Kliatt reviewer Daniel Levinson called the book a "marvelously thoughtful and intelligent collection of interviews."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, February 15, 2005, Vanessa Bush, review of The New New Journalism: Conversations with America's Best Nonfiction Writers on Their Craft, p. 1038.

Kliatt, July, 2005, Daniel Levinson, review of The New New Journalism, p. 34.

Publishers Weekly, February 7, 2005, review of The New New Journalism, p. 53.

Weekly Standard, May 23, 2005, Diane Scharper, review of The New New Journalism, p. 39.