This was a surprisingly easy book to read. It shouldnt be a surprise because it is written by a pulitzer prize winner. In any case, it gave me a much better understanding of what narrative journalism is about. The Ballad of Old Man Peters and Mrs. Kelly's Monsters were really good and while reading them i was assuming that most of what was on the page came from inspiration, that this is what makes a good writer. But after studying their structure and going through them with the author it was surprising how intentional many things were. I can now see what i am writing as a process of creating an artificial experience which just like good real experiences helps the person learn something or grasp a part of a greater truth. In particular also i really liked the chapter about outlines. It was very persistent and in the end i realized that outlines really help create a good paper, not just in arts journalism. It is something that i should be doing in my polisci papers as well. I hope to be able to re-write my story and find out that these techniques work well.