The gritty cities in third world countries, the hard working poor, the indigenous people who’ve been exploited, there is something there that strikes the same chord with me as when I’m listening to punk music. Many punks where I’ve traveled are discriminated against or oppressed (i.e. Cuba) and while there is a language and culture gap, it is consistently overcome by our mutual love of punk music and the punk philosophy (whatever that may be).

I never return from a trip the same and that is a good thing.

Thanks again for this article and the links.

There are certainly similarities with travel writing and punk rock. I think travel writing is a bit more universal though and more likely to stay mainstream

Although these stories do that, I don’t know about calling them punk. Even the most raw of them…shimmers. I’m not sure punk ever did ; )

Something that strikes me about all of them is that whilst each is intensely personal and intensely honest, they also all point towards something universal. I guess that’s why they are all so powerful; why they resonate.

Thanks for collecting them all in once place.

I was brushing my teeth this morning and realized I totally forgot about this story by Josh Johnson.

damn. sorry josh.

I’m sure there will be more I realize I’ve missed.

Will just keep adding them here.

Thanks for the list. I’ll read the rest soon,
Sophie

your comment was a big stoke. Gay Talese remains one of my biggest influences / people I look up to. I think he, along with Truman Capote (check T.C.’s short portraits on people, especially the one where goes around NYC with a housekeeper), are really the first people who turned short nonfiction sketches into literature.

this is the flow i’ve been trying to follow and promote ever since first reading it.

you’re right on as far as thinking chronologically working against us as writers. in everyday thought, our minds never work that way. even as we’re moving downstream we’re still thinking about events that happened back upstream.

the best stories seem to do everything and move in every direction at once.

bigups on your piece at abroad. i remember reading it and liking it very much, although as a surfer i tend to recoil anytime there’s content about marine life inflicting damage.

And some powerful writing linked here, by the way

I’m reading a collection of Gay Talese’s portraits and encounters at the moment. The guy is incredible. Even though he’s called the “father” of new journalism, I think his work remains so innovative and fresh, newer than almost any creative journalistic work out there today. He almost makes you forget that you’re reading reporting. Seamless.

One thing I’ve been trying to do in my own narrative writing is organize the flow not around chronology but around theme. It feels more natural to me, more the way I think. Maybe more punk rock. I recently published a piece on Abroad where I tried to do this: http://matadorabroad.com/bravery-or-brashness-a-moral-holiday-in-indonesia/ . Just another example of a way to do a narrative!

Thanks for all this concentration on the form, David. Loving it.