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How to Read Nonfiction Like a Professor

How to Read Nonfiction Like a Professor

By Thomas C. Foster

A Smart, Irreverent Guide to Biography, History, Journalism, Blogs, and Everything in Between. Harper Perennial, 2020.

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18 mins read

14 Key insights

A brief summary of How to Read Nonfiction Like a Professor

Smart strategies for reading news, bios, and other nonfiction works more critically and carefully, so you can discern the accuracy of the information and weed out the publications posting falsehoods from those which provide you with something close to the truth.

Key insights in How to Read Nonfiction Like a Professor

1
What do you get from this book? Invaluable advice on finding the truth and identifying falsehoods in reading material
2
To sort informative content from the seriously flawed, we need to be critical of why and how writing is presented
3
Make your expectations match the type of nonfiction you’re reading, and pay attention to every part of a book
4
Everyone is biased and the writer’s biases, as well as your own, need to be considered when reading
5
How a text is organized affects its meaning—get in the habit of noticing this so you can spot fake news
6
Some writers insert themselves into the nonfiction stories they’re telling, or use the essay or opinion forms
7
Consider the authenticity of what someone writes about themselves, as well as others, as you enjoy these genres
8
We are becoming more divided than ever, largely thanks to political writing, with some of us not even believing proven scientific data
9
It takes reading with care and asking questions about a piece of nonfiction to determine if it's genuine
10
The internet has caused us to forget how to think or act cautiously when reading
11
Don’t be a victim of literary fraud—protect yourself and others by checking sources and thinking critically
12
Summary of the key insights
13
Selected critiques in brief
14
Final word

Who should read How to Read Nonfiction Like a Professor

News junkies • biography lovers • journalists • social media users • those seeking the truth about the world • anyone wanting to read with more awareness

About the author of How to Read Nonfiction Like a Professor

Thomas C. Foster is an English professor at the University of Michigan and the author of numerous bestsellers on literary forms from classic prose and poetry to novels and nonfiction. His recent work, How to Write Like a Writer, takes a bit of a twist on his previous publications, offering a glimpse at literature from the other side, and acting as a guide for creative writing.

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Thomas C. Foster

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