there is a trend in narrative nonfiction that we just get, in general these were my sources, but in my book you can look it up, i use notes, you can say how does she know he said that? turned to the notes and you can look it up yourself. that is something that is really important to me, going back to primary source material, takes a long time before i will commit to a subject even if i think it is a fantastic story that there have been stories that broke my heart because i wanted to tell them, and source material to work with to have that dialogue, have those details to bring a story alive and so unless i do i won't commit to it and i had a wealth of information to work with for this book. >> you may have touched on this earlier concerning the river of doubt. as i was reading it i was amazed, why theodore roosevelt was doing this? why do you believe -- what was his motivation for doing it? i don't want to give my own opinion. >> host: theodore roosevelt lost the election of 1912 and goes to south america and goes down this incredibly dangerous rapid choked rivers that no one knows -- t

there's so much primary source material., the narrative nonfiction you have to have that, not a lot but not a huge amount but you have to be drowning in it and there are certainly times when i'm working on the book and the research takes me most of the time, good god, i will never get through all of this. >> i have done projects less ambitious than yours. when you have the wealth research materials there's the problem of choosing what to use. you have to truly understand it before you begin writing it. it does in a sense -- >> it's really a lost world. it's the period when the world began to change, incrediblylo dramatic ways more than it's changing now because you literally went -- >> right. >> right. that's another thing, actually that interests me about it because the world was changing so quickly and -- in every conceivable way. our knowledge of the world andhe so that too is fascinating and churchill was right in the middle of that and he's right on the cusp of this incredible change and it's fascinating to see it through his eyes. >> a couple of things that are connected. it would

and within a genre i collect historical narrative nonfiction. i try until a great hurry. as a writer i'm always looking for great stories to tell, preferably that haven't been told before exactly the way i think they ought to be told. this was that way. i knew the contours of the case a number of years ago and i know it's occurred to me a really great book to be done on this figure. the e-book [-open-bracket as i thought this story is actually not worth the full book. it's not worth 60 or 80,000 words. it is worth less than that i think i'm asserted a page turner of a story that gives us the basic facts. the e-book is 17,000 words. you can do a 90 minute. it's like a really long magazine article, but longer than any magazine could hold. the e-book opens up this space in reading habits from a long magazine article to a short book that can occupy this space. i thought this was a good story to tell. >> host: people were interested in purchasing this as an e-book. >> guest: it is available only on kindle. you have to buy from amazon. amazon is actually my publisher in additio

i would call it historical narrative nonfiction. i just try to tell a great story i'm always looking for great stories to tell, preferably stories that haven't been told before or at least in the way i thought they are to be told. i knew the contour of the case of a number of years ago and it always occurred to me that there's a great book to be done on this figure. the opportunity, the e-book opened up because i thought the story is not worth a full book, it's not not worth 60 or 80000 words. it's worth less than that, a page turner of a story that gives us the basic facts. you can do it in 90 minutes so it's like a really long magazine article. the e-book opens up the space in our reading habits from a long magazine article to a short book that can occupy that space. i thought this was a good story to tell. >> of people were interested in purchasing this as an e-book. >> $2. >> it's available only, it's 299 and it's only on kindle. you have to buy it from amazon. amazon is actually my publisher. they sell the book and they are my

if it's in a genre, i call it a historical narrative nonfiction. i just try until a great story. as a writer i'm always looking for great stories to tell. preferably stores that haven't been told before, at least not told in exactly the way i think it ought to be told. i knew the contours of the case. a number of years ago, it always occurred to me there is a great book be done on this figure. the opportunity e-book about open to because i thought this story is not worth the full book. it's not worth 60 or 80,000 words. it's worth worth something less than that i think. sort of a page turner of a story that gives us the basic facts. you can read i in a city or two. you can do it in 90 minutes, say. it's like a really long magazine article but it's longer than any magazine could hold. the e-book opens up this space in -- from a long magazine article to a short book, it can occupy the space. i thought this was a good story to tell. >> host: if people were interested in purchasing this as an e-book, two box? >> guest: it's $2.99, available only on kindle. you have to buy from amazon

it's important to is it's a trd sometimes in the narrative nonfiction that you get a paragraph on each chapter as a general these were my sources. but in my book, you can look it up. i use notes so you could say how this she know that, you can look it up yourself. so that's something that is important to me. and going back to the primary source material. w although we can get the fantastic story, i really wanted to tell them that we finally had to give them up because i just didn't have enough primary source material to work with toe have those details that you hoped would bring the story alive. so i won't commit to it and i had a wealth of information to work with on this book. >> you may have touched on this earlier concerning the river ofr doubt. i was amazed twice the ge wife e roosevelt was doing this. what do you believe was his motivation for doing it?want to >> for those of you that don't know the story and he lost inec 1912 and then he goes on this incredibly dangerous river that no one knows. it's called the river of doubt and it's because no one knew where it was going to ta

narrative. it's a nonfiction critical work but also a narrative that's partially about my life and my family, and this is how i end it. remembering and forgetting entwine together, double helix, making us who we are. one never without the other. i have to remember, but so much has been forgotten or silenced. my own personal memory is faulty. threw i through my youth i had a memory of soldiers firing from our boat to another boat on the south china say. was four. my brother, seven years older said the shooting never happened.h as an adult, i remember my mother being hospitalized when i was child. a few years ago, when i discovered a memoir i had written in college, i read in my own words she was in hospital at that time, not years before. her illness in that strange ward had made me feel like i was a frightened child. that feelingings what i remembered. as for my father it's pointless to ask him about the past himself relationship to the past is to muffle it, at fleece mywhm presence.. i are debt at least in my presence. >>> i never visited my own our in, the town where i was born, because he had

to end with a couple of paragraphs from the very end that nothing ever dies.th it's a narrative, it's a nonfictioncritical work but also a narrative that's partially about my life and my family and this is how i end it. remember and forgetting together making us who we are, one never without the other. i like to remember but so much has been forgotten or silenced. my own personal memory is faulty. through my youth i had a memory of soldiers from our boat to another boat as we floated on the south china sea. i was 4. my brother is 7 year's older says the shooting never happened. as an adult i remember my mother being hospitalized when i was a child. i discovered a memoir that i had written in college. i read in my own words as she was in the hospital at that time not years before. her illness in that strange with patients had made me feel like i was a frightened child. that feeling is what i remember. as for my father it's pointless to ask him about the past. his relationship to the past is to muffle it at least in my presence. although i visited his homeland i have never visited my own origin, the

it's a nonfiction, critical work but also narrative that a narrative that is about my life and my familyemembering and forgetting intertwined together making us who we are. one, and another never without the other. remember, so much has been forgotten or silence. while personal memory is faulty. through my youth had a memory of soldiers fighting onto another boat as we floated on the south china sea, i was four. my brother, seven years older said the shooting never happen. as an adult, i remember my mother being hospitalized when i was a child. a few years ago i discovered a member had had written in college, i read in my own words that she was in the hospital at that time, not your. her illness, and that strange word with its patients had made me feel like i was a fighting child. that feeling is what i remember. as for my father, it's pointless to ask him about the past. his relationship with the pastors to muffle it. at least in my presence. i visited his homeland, i have never visited my own origin, the town where i was born because he has forbidden it. more than once he said you can

nonfiction prize the emperor of formalities was an inquiry that had clinical and personal. he has done it again the tells the story of genetics with the social history of a personal narrative. he was so physically and mentally exhausted after emperor she did god expect to write another book but it was a natural paring with the prequel with that biological normalcy. and to ever wonder how much of our lives depend john dexter of parks down to expect a simple answer it is complicated. as far back that was a couple decades ago he kid distinguish and self then went to harvard medical school with a professor at columbia at university and to me n conversation this evening the:editor and managing editor of the pbs news hour please join me to welcome siddhartha mukherjee and judy. [applause] >> thanks for that creches introduction -- gracious introduction. if you read a the emperor of all morality issue will be more than fascinated by "the gene." i feel like my microphone is a little bit louder. there are so many ways with like to begin but the years that you worked on the book you said you were exhausted but then something else was going on in your mind and you write about that in

nonfiction prize the emperor of formalities was an inquiry that had clinical and personal. he has done it again the tells the story of genetics with the social history of a personal narrative. he was so physically and mentally exhausted after emperor she did god expect to write another book but it was a natural paring with the prequel with that biological normalcy. and to ever wonder how much of our lives depend john dexter of parks down to expect a simple answer it is complicated. as far back that was a couple decades ago he kid distinguish and self then went to harvard medical school with a professor at columbia at university and to me n conversation this evening the:editor and managing editor of the pbs news hour please join me to welcome siddhartha mukherjee and judy. [applause] >> thanks for that creches introduction -- gracious introduction. if you read a the emperor of all morality issue will be more than fascinated by "the gene." i feel like my microphone is a little bit louder. there are so many ways with like to begin but the years that you worked on the book you said you were exhausted but then something else was going on in your mind and you write about that in